- Happy Belly Food Group (CSE:HBFG), a restaurant stock holding numerous emerging food brands, has signed an area development agreement to open 25 new franchised iQ Food Co. units in Ontario
- Fifty iQ Food locations are in Canada under development, under construction or already open
- Happy Belly Food Group is the parent company of a growing number of food brands, including Rosie’s Burgers, Holy Crap, Lumber Heads Food Co., Yolks, Lettuce Love Café, Pirho Fresh Greek Grill, Joey Turks Island Grill and Via Cibo
- Happy Belly stock has added 328.57 per cent year-over-year
Happy Belly Food Group (CSE:HBFG), a restaurant stock holding numerous emerging food brands, has signed an area development agreement to open 25 new franchised iQ Food Co. units in Ontario.
iQ Food is a growing brand in Canada’s premium healthy eating market, with restaurants primarily in urban and central business districts. The brand’s in-store and catering options include bowls, smoothies, sandwiches, soups and salads.
The news follows Thursday’s announcement of a 20-unit area development agreement in Alberta, which, when combined with five restaurants currently in operation, bring the total iQ Food unit count to 50 in Canada.
Happy Belly has 421 contractually committed retail locations from area developers across its brand portfolio, including locations in development, under construction or already open, and expects to announce multiple strategic brand openings throughout 2024 and 2025.
Leadership insights
“We are teaming up with one of our existing area developers, Scott Grandin, who currently oversees our Central Canada development. Scott is already overseeing the franchise growth of our Pirho Fresh Greek Grill, Lettuce Love, Heal Wellness, Yolks Breakfast, Rosie’s Smash Burgers, and now iQ Food Co.,” Sean Black, Happy Belly Food Group’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Since March of last year, Scott has signed commitments for dozens of units across six of our brands, and he has no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Scott brings a key element of executable success to our team that will enable Happy Belly to continue its accelerated franchise growth. It is a lot of fun putting the band back together as we maximize the value of our assets with the delivery of disciplined organic growth.”
“Within just 30 days of completing our 100 per cent acquisition of iQ Foods, we have made significant strides,” Black added. “We’ve appointed Randall Papineau, former vice president of growth and operations at FRESH Restaurants, as iQ brand president, opened our first licensed location in collaboration with Oliver & Bonacini at the Queen’s Cross food court in CF Toronto Eaton Centre, and signed area development agreements for major expansion. We remain focused on our growth roadmap for iQ, reinforcing our dedication to organic expansion.”
About Happy Belly Food Group
Happy Belly Food Group is the parent company of a growing number of food brands, including Rosie’s Burgers, Holy Crap, Lumber Heads Food Co., Yolks, Lettuce Love Café, Pirho Fresh Greek Grill, Joey Turks Island Grill and Via Cibo.
Happy Belly stock (CSE:HBFG) is unchanged trading at C$0.60 per share as of 9:57 am ET. The stock has added 328.57 per cent year-over-year.
Join the discussion: Find out what everybody’s saying about this restaurant stock and iQ Food Co. on the Happy Belly Food Group Inc. Bullboard and check out Stockhouse’s stock forums and message boards.
The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. For full disclaimer information, please click here.
(Top photo of dishes from iQ Food: Happy Belly Food Group)
