Rodrigo ‘Rad’ Pelayo has already accomplished many things in life as an entrepreneur, medical representative, lifestyle coach, fitness specialist and ‘emerald’ executive of an American personal care and nutrition company. Pelayo says what he has learned through the years is that good nutrition is the key to good health.
Pelayo, 39, says this encouraged him to put up Healthy Meals PH by Renato’s—a new gastronomic delivery and catering service provider in Metro Manila that offers the right approach or TRA to preparing complete and balanced meals.
“Good nutrition is the key to good health. That is why we must start having healthy food and jump to TRA in attaining good well-being to address malnutrition among growing children and incidence of obesity, diabetes and hypertension among adults,” says Pelayo.
“I want to promote the right approach to healthy living which means you are able to eat complete and balanced meals [fruits, veggies, protein and carbs] which are hard to find in a restaurant or it will cost you so much,” he says.
Headquartered in Quezon City, Healthy Meals PH by Renato’s prepares meals designed to achieve or maintain the ideal body weight for customers who are usually on the go, or those who don’t have the time to prepare balanced and healthy meals for their loved ones, says Pelayo.
“I started Healthy Meals PH because I live independently and I have no time to prepare food, especially the healthy ones. I want food which is tasty but healthy and I want to reduce my trips to fastfood chains,” says Pelayo.
Pelayo grew up in a farm in Candaba, Pampanga and developed entrepreneurial skills early on when he managed the family’s sari-sari store as a young student. While studying Physical Therapy at Manila Central University in Caloocan City, he worked as a fitness specialist to help support his studies. He also sold candle holders on the side.
“After graduation from MCU, I did not have money. I started with P500 which was given to me as a graduation gift. I did not want to ask more money from my parents who were supporting the education of my siblings,” says Pelayo, who was the fourth of six children.
“With P500, I started a candle holder business. I sold candle holders in schools,” he says.
“While studying for my board exam, I worked as a fitness specialist. After passing the board exam, I knew that I was not going to earn as much as a PT practitioner. Then I learned that a med rep was earning more,” Pelayo says.
He applied for work with Zuellig Pharma and armed with the right motivation, agreed to be assigned in Ilocos Region. He was recognized as “Med Rep of the Year”at Zuellig for two years.
“After two years, I transferred to Unilab [United Laboratories Inc.] where I stayed for a decade. I was a consistent performer,” he says.
In his second year at Unilab, his entrepreneurial hunger kicked in. He invested P300,000 in a laundry shop in Kamuning, Quezon City at a time the laundry business was just about to flourish.
“I was saving P10,000 to P15,000 every month as emergency fund for my parents. My father is a farmer while my mom is a housewife. After a year or two at Unilab, Unilab announced that my dependents would be my parents. So when my parents needed hospital care, Unilab would take care of it. That’s when I withdrew the money and started to put up the laundry shop in 2006,” he says.
The first laundry shop was followed by five more outlets, with each branch providing him a monthly net income of P10,000 to P15,000.
Pelayo was also doing well with Unilab, where most of his travel, fuel and food expenses were subsidized. Aside from the good salary, he received a commission package of P200,000 to P300,000 a year.
“Unilab was okay, but sometimes you were trying to look for something that will challenge you. Day in, day out, I was working in a hospital,” says Pelayo.
He recalls that he accompanied a friend to buy a product from a US direct selling company in 2013 and he listened to a presentation where he learned the importance of active and passive income. He was told that he could have active and passive income by building a network of individuals who could sell the products.
“As we grow old, our expenses increase but our income decreases as you lose your youth and you retire. After you retire, we could only support 40 percent of our needs. Then I realized that I wanted the life of the people in front of me. Some of them were Ateneo graduates who gave up managerial positions to join the international direct selling company,” he says.
He joined the direct selling company on a part-time basis and in less than a month earned big commissions that convinced him to join the American multi-level marketing company permanently eight months later.
He also sold his laundry business.
“I am an emerald executive right now, which means I have at least six to eight franchise teams,” Pelayo says.
Pelayo says one of the perks provided by the direct selling company is overseas travels with his family. My first travel is in Istanbul, Turkey with five-star accommodation. They really take care of the people," he says.
“When I traveled to London, I brought my mother for her first overseas trip. When I traveled to Paris two years ago, I was able to bring my mom, my dad and my sister. They made it possible for me. This was the first time my dad told me that life is wonderful,” Pelayo says.
He also had the opportunity to travel to Belgium, Singapore, Hawaii, Australia and Japan.
Pelayo downplays criticisms that networking is not a legitimate form of business. “Whom will you believe—those who succeeded in the business, or to those who did not? If you listen to them, you tend to mimic the failures that they had,” he says.
Pelayo says as distributors, they are taught how to handle finances and how to deal with people. “The training is not only about product, but about you, how you grow the business, personal development and talking to people,” he says.
He says as a lifestyle coach, he has learned how to prioritize and prepare every stage of his life. This also encouraged him to put up Healthy Meals PH, which now delivers 440 to 500 packs of food a week, despite it is only the second month of its operation.
Healthy Meals PH delivers carefully prepared food to customers in the cities of Quezon, Malabon, Valenzuela, Manila, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Pasig, Taguig, Makati, Pasay, Parañaque and Las Piñas.
Pelayo says Healthy Meals PH follows the right approach or TRA program which entails the proper, well-balanced and the right amount of carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals that must be consumed by individuals to ensure the attainment of healthy well-being.
He says he has tapped seasoned chefs, nutritionists, molecular and nutritional oncologists, physical therapists and sport science specialists to help prepare the specialized packed meals that are ideal to families, those who want to have balanced weight and those with medical conditions such as diabetics and hypertensive. They also provide consultations and fitness advice.
“Healthy Meals PH. by Renato’s aims to promote complete, balanced, proper combination and sequence meals for every Filipinos with different needs, without compromising the joys of eating.
We believe that if every customer is happy while eating, in consideration with the right amount of vitamins and minerals, everyday eating entails a happy life,” says Pelayo.
He says Healthy Meals PH serves calorie counted meals, high-protein low-carb meals, diabetic and hypertensive meals and healthy lunch boxes for children.
“Children will be enticed and excited when they see their favorite hotdogs and burgers on their lunch boxes, not knowing that the food that they are consuming are meat without preservatives, keenly innovated by the chefs of Healthy Meals PH by Renato’s and packed with vitamins and minerals” he says.
Pelayo says that compared to others, “we believe that our price is reasonable enough to make our customers our long time partners.” He says Healthy Meals PH is also the first to cater different products and serves as a one stop shop for meals, breads, supplements and even fitness services.
“Healthy Meals PH does not only cater for sumptuous food, but also for the security of the well-being of our well-loved customers. We consider Healthy Meals PH as a one stop shop that deals with the holistic and scientific approach for the attainment of healthy living,” he says.
Pelayo says healthy meals should not taste like bland food. “With Healthy Meals PH by Renato’s, you can now enjoy healthy and luscious food, as the essential minerals and vitamins are well premeditated, without compromising the desire of your taste buds and unminding the effects on your precious health,” he says.
The weekly cost of the meals ranges from P1,500 for lunch boxes to P2,400 for high-protein meals, plus a delivery fee of P20 to P40 per day depending on the area. Payment is via bank deposit or online transfer.
Pelayo says the plan is to reach 500 daily regular clients within a year. “The reception of the market is overwhelming in a short time. We now have almost 100 customers already. As an entrepreneur, I know there is a market for it because I myself want healthy meals. I just want something unique, in terms of service. Our clients can talk to us. That’s the joy of caring that we embody,” he says.