What is Mekhala?
"Whether it’s a busy weeknight or you’re having friends over, a wholesome, scrumptious meal is just a jar of Mekhala away! "
Mekhala is a modern Asian foods brand on a mission to create A Better Asian Kitchen.
Our products are Better-for-You, Vegan, and Gluten-free, and come in a range of exciting flavor combinations. Best of all, they’re so easy to use, you’ll be able to whip up a delicious, healthier, Asian-inspired meal every day.
Mekhala‘s signature line of cooking pastes are:
- Organic,
- Gluten-free,
- Vegan / 100% Plant-based,
- Clean Label, and
- Super easy-to-use
We are also mindful about our production practices and packaging choices because we care about our community and our planet.
Mekhala means “Goddess” in Thai. But you don’t have to be a god. Just join Mekhala on our quest for A Better Asian Kitchen.
After all, why can’t life be delicious, easy and healthy?
Our Story
Out of our desire for quality, natural products for our families, I started Mekhala with my Thai partner Jang at her vegan retreat in Chiang Mai. When Jang passed away a short time later, I had to pivot to what I knew and loved – food.
I grew up in a food-loving family in multicultural Singapore, where eating is a national past-time and our Hawker Culture is on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. My mother made her own sauces and pastes in a pestle and mortar with fresh Asian herbs and spices from the wet market. In our Asian home, a scrumptious home cooked meal means “I Love You”.
As a working mother, I was frustrated with the artificial additives and preservatives, and the high amounts of sugar in most Asian store-bought products, but did not have the time to cook from scratch. So I roped in my sister Diane, our Chief Sauceress, and we got busy. Together, we developed a range of clean, flavorful, and easy-to-use Asian-inspired products, honoring Jang’s memory with our vegan recipes.
Using beautiful ingredients sourced from local farmers, our female-led Thai team manufactures Mekhala’s Asian-inspired food products in our very own facility in Chiang Mai. Everything we make is organic, plant-based, clean label, and gluten and nut-free.
In each Mekhala product, not only will you experience exciting flavor combinations made from authentic Asian ingredients, you will also find a brand that cares about sustainability, inspiring and empowering women and youth, and protecting our planet.
With care and passion, our amazing team works hard every day to bring our dream to more people – A Better Asian Kitchen with delicious, wholesome, and sustainable Asian foods for you and your loved ones.
We hope you enjoy our products as much as we love making them for you.
Daphne Hedley & Diane Wong
Mekhala Co-Founders
"A Better Asian Kitchen"
Sustainability
At Mekhala, we believe in making great products that we want to use for ourselves and our families. And that means doing the very best we can with what is available.
We ask – what is this going to cost? Our health? Our planet? Our viability?
More often than not, it is immensely challenging to find the best balance. Here’s how we’re doing it.
Better-for-You, Better for All!
We eschew animal products, use natural ingredients, and are honest on our labels, so you know what you are consuming. This also helps to prevent harmful substances from cycling in our environment. So the food is good for you, and everybody else too!
Sustainable Production Processes
At our factory in Chiang Mai, our production team is constantly minimizing waste through repurposing, recycling and not over producing. Suitable food waste is sent back to farms to be used as fertilizer, clean water used for cooling is reused, defective packaging materials are recycled instead of being disposed of.
Regenerative Farming
We buy raw materials from local farmers who use regenerative farming practices like Crop Rotation, Crop Cover, and Mixed Crop.
Conscious Packaging
Choosing packaging materials is an ongoing juggle. Food safety, shelf-life, transportability, environmental impact, and so much more have to be considered. So far, we’ve managed no bubble wrap nor shrink wrap. We use reusable/ recyclable glass jars for pastes, cardboard for packaging, and minimize plastic use. And we will continue to do our utmost.
What else can we do?
If you know of any ways we could do better, or have any other queries about our products or ingredients, please drop us a note at info {at} mekhalaliving.com!
Asian & Women-Founded & Run
We are proud to be an equal opportunity company committed to empowering women and youths in our local community.
OUR ACTIONS
At Mekhala we are committed to improving the lives around us in every way we can. Our two main active contributions are empowering and offering work opportunities to women in our facility and supporting the Schools of Hope programme students from the Burmese Shan community in Thailand.
