Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - December 4, 2024) - Happy Belly Food Group Inc. (CSE: HBFG) (OTCQB: HBFGF) ("Happy Belly" or the "Company"), a leading consolidator of emerging food brands is excited to announce the opening of its newest co-branded store located at 2241 Bloor Street West in the heart of Toronto's Bloor-West Village. Our grand opening event will be this Saturday December 7th, 2024. This co-branded location is operated by a single franchisee and will feature both Lettuce Love Café ("Lettuce Love") and Heal Wellness ("Heal") QSRs. Lettuce Love Café serves delicious gluten-free meals, plant-based bowls, sandwiches, soups and wraps. Heal Wellness serves fresh smoothie bowls, acai bowls, and smoothies.
"This is our second co-branded location with our Heal Wellness and Lettuce Love brands, with a third co-branded store currently under construction and is anticipated to open in Q1 2025 in Hamilton's Westdale Village," said Sean Black, Chief Executive Officer. "The Bloor-West location is home to our second Lettuce Love location, and our 14th Heal Wellness.
"This street-front location has a perfect layout with indoor seating and a large corner patio that will provide ample customer seating for both brands during Toronto's beautiful summer weather. Our co-branded approach demonstrates how we can utilize our multiple brands to secure larger prime real estate locations while ensuring occupancy costs remain reasonable for individual brands. We anticipate more co-branded locations utilizing a varying mix of our portfolio brands as we look to secure more premium street-front locations."
"When you walk through Bloor West Village, it won't take you long to realize that this neighbourhood is home to a lot of families with young children, dogs, strollers, and expectant parents are a frequent sight. Families make use of parks, playgrounds, wading pools, and outdoor ice-skating rink. Close to daycares and public schools, Bloor West Village is the kind of neighbourhood perfectly suited for the customer demographics of Lettuce Love Café and Heal Wellness. Bloor Street is the hub of activity with lots of options for restaurants, shopping, and nightlife. Known as a small village in a big city, bustling Bloor West Village is roughly an 8-block strip offering over 430 bars, restaurants, shops, and services, including a lively nightlife scene. It's a block from popular High Park, home to the High Park Zoo, an amphitheatre, and a nature centre. This jam-packed area is best explored by walking or biking, as parking is at a premium."
"As our stable of emerging QSR brands continues to grow, so does the steady signing of franchise agreements and the securing of prime real estate locations across Canada, demonstrating our ability to quickly scale our brands in both single and co-branded locations.
"The consistent growth of our brands across Canada underscores the strength of our franchising program. Franchisees gain from comprehensive training, continuous mentorship, and a range of resources that help streamline operations and foster success. By mitigating the typical risks of entrepreneurship and offering a clear path to profitability, our program continues to attract a strong wave of motivated investors. As our Happy Belly franchise program draws more franchisees to our brands, we're able to accelerate organic growth."
"We look forward to continuing to execute on our franchising model as we accelerate our growth organically and inorganically through accretive M&A. The expansion of Lettuce Love Café and Heal Wellness is a prime example of our ability to execute an asset light franchise model. As free cash flow increases from the brand, we anticipate accelerating our store development schedule with growth from our franchise program.
"As we move forward, our 2025 pipeline of new stores continues to expand with franchise agreements and lease signings progressing across North America. We currently have 421 contractually committed retail locations from area developers across all emerging brands in the Happy Belly Portfolio-whether in development, under construction, or already open. As we open new stores, the Happy Belly footprint continues to grow. Our team is committed to sourcing and evaluating real estate, reviewing franchisee applications, and collaborating closely with area developers to support our asset-light franchising model. By focusing on securing high-quality franchisees and prime real estate locations across Canada, we will further strengthen our expansion efforts."
About Heal Wellness Heal Wellness was founded with a passion and mission to provide quick, fresh wellness foods that support a busy and active lifestyle. We currently offer a diverse range of smoothie bowls and smoothies. We take pride in meticulously selecting every superfood ingredient on our menu to fuel the body, including acai smoothie bowls, smoothies, and super-seed grain bowls. Our smoothie bowls are crafted with real fruit and enriched with superfoods like acai, pitaya, goji berries, chia seeds, and more.
About Lettuce Love Café
Lettuce Love was created solely with your health in mind for delivering delicious plant based and gluten-free meals, smoothies & treats. Ingredients and products used are sourced from sustainable, fair-trade, non-GMO sources, are local and organically farmed when available. We proudly prepare all our menu selections fresh, at the time they are ordered to provide the maximum nutritional benefits. Often surprising and seducing hard core carnivores with many of our vegan and gluten free dishes, Lettuce Love Cafe, offers a warm welcome to everyone.
About Happy Belly Food Group
Happy Belly Food Group Inc. (CSE: HBFG) (OTCQB: HBFGF) ("Happy Belly" or the "Company") is a leading consolidator of emerging food brands.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.
All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-Looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur and include the future performance of Happy Belly and her subsidiaries. Forward-Looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the business plans for Happy Belly described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are posted on www.sedarplus.ca.
