Happy Belly Food Group's Heal Wellness QSR Announces the Grand Opening of its Newest Location in Downtown Toronto, Ontario

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 17, 2026) - Happy Belly Food Group Inc. (CSE: HBFG) (OTCQB: HBFGF) (" Happy Belly " or the " Company "), a leading consolidator of emerging restaurant brands, is pleased to announce the grand opening of its newest Heal Wellness (" Heal ") location, located at 14 York Street, in Toronto's downtown core, Ontario, on Saturday July 18th, 2026. This location is being opened by the franchise group led by Alex Rechichi and Bedford Park Capital, which entered into Heal's largest Multi-Unit Franchise Agreement to date for 45 locations across Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Heal Wellness is a fast-growing quick-service restaurant (" QSR ") brand specializing in fresh smoothie bowls, açaí bowls, smoothies, and other better-for-you menu offerings built around clean ingredients and an active lifestyle. Happy Belly 1 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6625/305536_9ba6a2a394e2abbc_002full.jpg Being located on York Street in downtown Toronto, our newest Heal Wellness location is positioned in the heart of one of Canada's busiest tourism, entertainment, and commercial districts. The surrounding area benefits from significant year-round pedestrian traffic generated by nearby office towers, condominium communities, transit connections, and major attractions, including the CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, The Rec Room, and Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays. Its proximity to Union Station, the PATH network, Scotiabank Arena, and Toronto's waterfront further attracts a diverse mix of residents, commuters, office workers, event attendees, and international visitors. This combination of population density, tourism activity, and consistent daily traffic creates an ideal environment for Heal's convenient, better-for-you smoothie bowls, açaí bowls, smoothies, and other health-focused menu offerings. "Opening this new Heal location in downtown Toronto marks another important milestone in the brand's Ontario expansion and in the rollout of our 45-location Multi-Unit Franchise Agreement with the group led by Alex Rechichi and Bedford Park Capital," said Sean Black, Chief Executive Officer of Happy Belly Food Group. "Downtown Toronto provides an exceptional platform for Heal, with its dense and diverse customer base, strong pedestrian and transit traffic, and steady flow of residents, professionals, students, visitors, and health-conscious consumers. The market's combination of residential density, office activity, universities and colleges, fitness facilities, retail, hospitality, and entertainment aligns well with Heal's functional, convenient, and grab-and-go offering. We believe these fundamentals support strong long-term potential for this location and further demonstrate the scalability of Heal across high-traffic urban markets." Happy Belly 2 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6625/305536_9ba6a2a394e2abbc_003full.jpg "Heal Wellness continues to expand rapidly across Canada and into the United States, solidifying its position as a leading açaí and smoothie bowl brand," said Sean Black. "With 45 locations now open and more than 163 in development, Heal remains a key driver of growth within Happy Belly's broader portfolio of 686 contractually committed retail franchise locations across multiple emerging brands in various stages of development, construction, and operation. We continue to build a predictable and disciplined growth engine designed to create long-term shareholder value." " We are just getting started, " said Sean Black. 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 ...