Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 20, 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 on July 18^th, 2023 it has signed an area development agreement for the province of British Columbia for the opening of 30 franchise restaurants of HEAL Wellness, a fresh smoothie bowls, acai bowls, smoothies, and delicious breakfast waffles quick serve restaurant.

"Todays announcement furthers our presence in Western Canada through our nation-wide franchising program, launching our second brand for franchising in British Columbia. A key element of our real estate growth strategy is having multiple brands available to franchise within a single territory. By using our existing Area Developer for British Columbia Stephen Travers to quarterback multiple brands within their territory, we realize the dividends of potential combination stores, increased synergies on location availability, and the optionality to place multiple brands in key high-traffic customer locations", said Sean Black, Chief Investment Officer of Happy Belly."

"Utilizing our franchising experience and road map for accelerated growth, we are quickly building HEAL into an established national brand across Canada. The four original partners in Heal, Jay, Jesse, Kartik and Ryan have the best smoothie bowl product in Canada by far. The people of British Columbia are in for a special treat very shortly as we anticipate seeing our 1st locations to open in Q4'23-Q1'24".

"Since the start of 2023 we have built a pipeline of 160 QSR units combined across our brand portfolio that are in franchising development. Our franchise development model, real estate growth plan and accelerated brand development framework are the three pillars enabling us to achieve our goals at an accelerated pace."

Visual Example of HEAL Wellness locations with British Columbia and Alberta AD Agreements

Area Developer
We have signed with experienced Stephen Travers as our Area Developer in British Columbia. Stephen was the 1^st Extreme Pita Franchisee ever, and later the 1^st ever Area-Developer for Extreme Pita, Mucho Burrito and Via Cibo. He has over 20 years of QSR experience and an impressive track record of developing brands quickly in Western Canada. Stephen has developed over 150 QSR restaurants and has delivered for us time and time again as we built our previous brands.

For franchising inquiries please see www.happybellyfg.com/franchise-with-us/ or contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About Heal Wellness
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"), a leading consolidator of emerging food brands.

Happy Belly Food Group
Shawn Moniz
Chief Executive Officer

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT:

www: www.happybellyfg.com or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you wish to contact us please call: (604) 737-2303

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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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.