Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 5, 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 HEAL Wellness has signed for and begun construction plans to open a 6th corporate location located in Mississauga's neighborhood of Port Credit, Ontario.
"This new store location is HEAL'S fourth (4th) net new store location since being acquired one year ago, demonstrating an ability to quickly integrate into existing infrastructure provided by Happy Belly to maximize operational efficiency and accelerated speed to market ability for real estate. Furthermore, the new location will replicate the successful integration and leveraging of shared resources that is currently being utilized across our brand portfolio," said Sean Black, Chief Investment Officer of Happy Belly.
"Shareholders can start to see a repeatable pattern emerging with our ability to organically grow our brands post acquisition. We share and leverage infrastructure across the portfolio while enabling access to our shared resource pool that provides access to SMEs not always available to brands during their growth phase. Our approach has always been to specialize in the development and growth of emerging brands in the food sector."
"This new location expands HEAL's customer reach in an area that is heavily populated and is demographical aligned to the brand, giving us tremendous opportunity in-store, as well as delivery. Having a stable of emerging QSR growth brands is what will allow Happy Belly to quickly leverage real estate opportunities like this recent project to accelerate our disciplined organic growth. We look forward to continuing to execute on our model as we accelerate our business organically and inorganically through accretive M&A. The rapid expansion of the Heal Wellness brand is a prime example of what our team can do with a great brand. As free cash flow increases from the brand we anticipate accelerating our corporate store development schedule with supplemental growth coming from our franchise program as that starts to roll out in the back half of 2023."
The new location anticipates operations to commence with a grand opening in July. HEAL Wellness was an accretive acquisition by Happy Belly Food Group, and it is anticipated that the new store location will continue to drive both the top line and bottom line of the company.
Prior to becoming a founding partner of Heal Wellness, Jay Zuccato was a spokesperson alongside a globally distributed nutritional companies to market health and wellness foods. Long-time childhood friend and also a founding partner of Heal Wellness, Jesse Davidson, specialized in business operations with one of Canada's top protein companies as they grew nationwide in operations and storefronts.
With these strong backgrounds and a passion for wellness, they came together to identify a need for a quick-serve healthy food lifestyle. In June of 2019, they responded to this need by opening the first Heal Wellness location in their hometown of Hamilton, Ontario with the goal of being at the forefront of the health food revolution.
"Heal Wellness was created out of a passion and mission to serve quick, fresh wellness foods that power and support a busy, active lifestyle. Currently, we are pleased to offer a wide variety of smoothie bowls, smoothies, and delicious breakfast waffles. We are proud to highlight that every superfood ingredient in the Heal Wellness menu is carefully selected with the intention of fueling the body with a reduced ecological footprint," said Jesse Davidson, Co-founder of Heal Wellness.
About Happy Belly Food Group
Happy Belly Food Group Inc. (CSE: HBFG) (OTCQB: VGANF) ("Happy Belly" or the "Company") is a leading consolidator of emerging food brands.
Happy Belly Food Group Shawn Moniz Chief Executive Officer
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 LumberHeads Food Co. 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.sedar.com.
