Impact Kitchen, a healthy fast-casual food destination, continues to expand, opening its fifth location in Toronto with plans to open more.
The company has also launched a coffee subscription service at all its locations that is extremely popular with customers.
Josh Broun, co-founder of Impact Kitchen, said the latest location opened September 15 in Liberty Village.
“I’ve had my eye on Liberty Village for quite some time and familiar with the demographic there. I know there’s a wellness theme in the community with great fitness boutiques and yoga and lifestyle-inspired places there which is important for Impact,” said Broun.
“Liberty Village provides an excellent opportunity for us to build our community within an already established neighbourhood that is redefining itself. So we knew we had the offices and the condos with high density with continuous growth. That excited us. A lot of creative agencies, new tech, entrepreneurial start ups all coming together in one spot. Based off our other locations, those demographics tend to come to Impact Kitchen.”
Heading into the future, in the short-term Impact Kitchen will open ghost kitchens and then further brick & mortar expansion.
“Our mindset right now is scale. Every discussion with my team circles around what we need to do to prepare ourselves to scale. With the opening of any new location, it allows us to reflect and learn about operational standards and growth tactics,” said Broun.
“For the brand, we tend to base our decisions on our core values and maintaining our company standards and our food philosophy. As Impact Kitchen grows, our team grows with it and allows the ultimate goal of creating new community hubs in future markets. We are working towards opening locations outside of Toronto in Canada and in the U.S.”
Impact Kitchen was founded in 2015 by Broun, a former personal trainer and nutrition expert, and Frank Toskan, co-founder of MAC Cosmetics. Its mission was to empower people to choose healthier foods that supply the energy and drive they need to take on the rest of their day.
The first location was in Corktown on King Street East, followed by Adelaide, Summerhill, Queens Quay and recently Liberty Village.
When asked what sets Impact Kitchen apart, Broun said that the quality of the ingredients and the food philosophy is the driving force behind the culture.
“That was the stake in the ground we claimed from before our first location,” he said. “A quote that has lasted through the years came from my co-founder Frank Toskan, which set the tone for how we operated as a company. We are going to make it with high quality ingredients or we aren’t going to make it.”
“That’s been our mainstay. We create menu items and supplier relationships through that philosophy. And I think it’s resonated through to our customers and team members.”
When discussing community building, Broun shared that the goal was to create an #impacteveryday. When Impact first opened, it was around the idea of creating a place that becomes a habitual spot where someone visits every day. This was the deciding point of introducing the coffee subscription program.
“The coffee subscription was one more pillar in that becoming part of people’s everyday lives,” said Broun. “Creating a price point where we would become their go-to for coffee was a strategy to gain confidence in our customers and that would introduce them to other items on that menu and the brand in general.”
“After launching in March, the program has been a success. We think as offices start to return to full capacity the subscription will continue to be a part of that transition into the office routine. We were excited to partner with Pilot Coffee Roasters as we wanted to go with a recognizable and trusted local brand which we feel elevates our coffee program.”
After downloading the Impact app, customers can purchase the subscription, with a choice of one month at a price of $19.95 or $49.95 for three months. The program gives access to unlimited drip coffee, Americano, & Espresso- one coffee per order, every two hours.
When asked about the next steps of the brand in the market, Broun was straight-forward in his feelings.
“The biggest strength in our company is our team here at Impact Kitchen. With the team that we’ve built, we have the trust to build the brand further.”
