By Manuel (Mac) Villarreal, Founder & CEO, I Eat My Greens
People don’t usually expect an Olympic sailor to end up making soup. But that’s where life led me — and I couldn’t be prouder.
For years, my world revolved around competition, structure, and peak performance. I knew what it meant to train hard and fuel smart. But everything shifted when I moved to the U.S. and became a father. Suddenly, the stakes weren’t about medals anymore — they were about being present, healthy, and strong for my family.
That shift made me see food differently. I started asking:
Why is eating healthy so difficult when life gets busy?
Why are nutritious options often the most inconvenient — or the most bland?
Why do we settle for food that fills us but doesn’t really fuel us?
Eventually, I realized the answer wasn’t out there — so I decided to create it.
Why I Eat My Greens
I started I Eat My Greens with one goal: to make truly nourishing food for people who are juggling everything else. Food that feels like a warm hug from someone who genuinely cares. Food that doesn’t just check a “healthy” box, but actually brings joy.
The inspiration? My grandmother. Her soups were legendary in our family. Every week, she’d make big pots of soup using whatever was fresh and in season. It was the kind of food that made you feel whole. After moving to the U.S., I missed that feeling more than I expected.
So I asked myself:
What if we could bring that homemade magic to more people — in a way that fits real life?
From Tradition to the Fridge
Building this wasn’t easy. We were told refrigerated soup would be a hard sell. That shelf-stable would be easier. That natural ingredients wouldn’t scale. That people wouldn’t care enough.
But I couldn’t accept that. Because I do believe people care.
They care about what they feed their kids.
They care about feeling strong, aging well, having energy.
They care about food that supports them — not just fills them.
They just haven’t always had the right options.
Nourishing Change, One Bowl at a Time
To me, nourishing change means fighting for those better options.
It means challenging the idea that convenience and quality can’t go together.
It means showing that delicious and healthy don’t have to be opposites.
And it means believing that small choices — even something as simple as soup — can spark something bigger.
When someone chooses I Eat My Greens, I want them to feel two things: energized and cared for.
Because food should be more than just fuel.
It should be connection. Comfort. A quiet reminder to care for ourselves and the people we love.
That’s why I chose soup.
Because in a world that’s always rushing, a warm bowl of something real can remind us to slow down, enjoy the moment, and keep going — with a full heart and a full belly.
Crafting Authenticity Without Compromise
That’s why we created Twist Foods—a line of clean-label, restaurant-quality Indian curry simmer sauces made with fresh ingredients and a slow-cooked process. Our mission is simple: to make authentic Indian flavors accessible, convenient, and crafted with integrity.
At Twist Foods, we refuse to compromise. Instead of using gums, starches, or artificial thickeners, we use natural ingredients like cashew butter to create the velvety texture in our sauces. Every ingredient in our jars is something you’d recognize from a home or restaurant kitchen—like vine-ripened tomatoes, coconut oil, cream, and aromatic spices. You can pick up our jar, read the label, and know you’re getting real food made the right way.
Crafting Authenticity Without Compromise
One of our biggest challenges was finding manufacturing partners who shared our commitment to clean ingredients and traditional cooking methods. Many co-packers wanted to take shortcuts that would have compromised the authentic flavors we were determined to preserve. It took years of searching and countless test batches, but we finally found partners who respected our vision and our recipes.
Nourishing Change, One Jar at a Time
To me, “nourishing change” means much more than food. It’s about preserving culinary traditions and making them available to busy people who still crave authentic experiences. It’s about honesty, quality, and giving people the confidence that they’re feeding themselves and their families something real and delicious.
My dream is that one day, someone will walk down the grocery aisle, spot a jar of our Butter Masala or Tikka Masala sauce, and remember that unforgettable meal—the perfect curry at their favorite restaurant, or that home-cooked feast next door. And this time, when they bring it home, they’ll finally be able to recreate that magic.
Being part of the Nourishing Change community reminds me that we’re not alone in this mission. Together, we’re proving that food brands can be both innovative and deeply authentic—and that’s the kind of change I’m proud to nourish every day.
