Inquirer.net, News Report, Posted: Sep 06, 2011

LONDON—A Filipina-owned all-natural food company is in the running for the Top 100 small businesses in the United Kingdom. Britain's public is in the process of voting on who's No. 1 among 100 small businesses, and Righteous Living is running at an impressive third place so far. Voting closes on Sept. 30.

Righteous Living was started in 2008 by a 32-year-old Filipina, Gem Misa, when she decided to leave her corporate job to pursue her dream of setting up her own business.

Her company has achieved the holy grail for a start-up food business: Two of the United Kingdom’s top supermarkets, Tesco and Waitrose, carry the start-up’s line.

So far, the leading Righteous Living products are three all-natural salad dressings and a healthy cooking oil with less than half the fat of standard oils.

John Torode and Gregg Wallace of UK Masterchef fame praised dressings in their Daily Mail food column, and Righteous Living has even been featured on the BBC website as a “best new product.”

Misa has designed the products to be completely free of preservatives, extenders and artificial flavorings—yet they still have an eight-month shelf life thanks to some smart work with a food technician.