Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 15, 2023) - Happy Belly Food Group Inc. (CSE: HBFG) (OTCQB: VGANF) ("Happy Belly" or the "Company"), a leading consolidator of emerging food brands is pleased to announce that due to continued franchising demand and steady organic growth of our brand portfolio we have brought on a Senor Vice President of Finance to oversee our growth verticals.
"Happy Belly is once again at an inflection point of growth. We are experiencing steady and ahead of schedule signing of franchise agreements across our portfolio of brands, complimented with steady organic growth within our corporate locations. We pride ourselves on running a lean team of expert individuals in our management ranks, and we are thrilled to welcome Gary Fung to the Happy Belly family as his skill sets and personality are a perfect match for where we currently are in our growth stage as a company, and where we will be very shortly," said Shawn Moniz, Chief Executive Officer of Happy Belly.
Gary Fung comes from a very successful career at Tim Hortons spanning 15 years where he held multiple progressive leadership positions. Most recently as Head of Development Finance and Analytics overseeing:
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Corporate finance, controllership, reporting, strategy, and analytics for Canada development and construction (~4,000 restaurants).
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Spearheaded development analytics and created financial models to drive strategic growth, while maximizing return on all capital spend.
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Devised and managed multi-year strategic plan focused on net restaurant growth and market optimization, resulting in positive same store sales growth.
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Overhauled restaurant renovation program and improving return on investment by optimizing core processes, improving restaurant layout and program efficiencies.
Prior to this role Gary was Head of Franchise Profitability where he was accountable for:
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Driving financial planning, analysis, reporting, budgets and forecasting at restaurant level (~4,000 restaurants Canada and ~800 US).
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Engineered new reporting tools, cadence, and financial models to improve benchmarking, identify best practices, and proactively improve overall restaurant profitability.
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Drove profitability and cost savings initiatives across various business segments (marketing, operations, supply chain, real estate, and finance) leading to annual profitability growth.
"Gary is a great fit for our brand teams and Happy Belly as a whole, as he loves rolling up his sleeves and working side by side with our partners, brand operators, financial team, logistics partners, and many more. Gary brings the energy and prideful attitude that fits well within our culture here at Happy Belly. He is a great addition at this pivotal time of growth for us especially with his 15 years experience of managing all and everything the franchise side of the business has to offer. Gary will start his full-time employment with us in January 2024."