Under the leadership of President and COO Nick Veloce, Innovative Food Brands is steering Chopped Leaf into a new chapter of growth and evolution. Since acquiring the health-focused restaurant brand in 2014, the company has expanded its national footprint and embarked on a strategic brand refresh to meet changing customer expectations.
Veloce confirmed that Innovative Food Brands currently has 122 open Chopped Leaf locations, with another 28 committed. “We’ve got 150 opened and committed to,” he said. “Those should open within 18 months.”
The brand, originally launched in western Canada, is now present from coast to coast. “When we bought it, it was just out west,” Veloce explained. “We took it to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and also the East Coast.”
Last year marked the 15th anniversary of Chopped Leaf, prompting what Veloce described as a “tweaking and cleansing” of the brand’s image. “We didn’t feel it needed a rehaul,” he said. “We refined our logo—we felt our logo was a bit strong, so we softened it. We changed the inside to make it a little more welcoming, a little more comfortable.”
A notable feature of the refresh includes increased visibility into food preparation. “We dropped our counter so customers can actually see what we’re doing, what we’re prepping. A little more openness from a customer’s perspective,” Veloce noted.
In addition to visual changes, the brand has put a new emphasis on local community engagement.
“We localized it,” said Veloce. “For example, if we opened up a location in Oakville, we’d have a sign as soon as you walk in that says, Hello Oakville, or Hello Edmonton, or wherever we’re going. Our partners are always local operators, so we just felt that it was important to be connected with the local community.”
The new design debuted in Kelowna, and according to Veloce, the company is now in rollout mode across its network. “All the new stores are full-blown new system,” he said.
In early 2024, Innovative Food Brands also made a strategic decision to sell Teriyaki Experience, a brand they had operated since 1986. “We just felt it was time for somebody else to kind of give it the attention it needs, and it gives us the opportunity to focus on our core business,” said Veloce. “We’ve gone full throttle into Chopped Leaf and that was the mindset.”
At the time of the sale, Teriyaki Experience had 40 locations.
Veloce also revealed that the company is piloting a new coffee concept. “It’s ethically sourced, high-quality coffee,” he said. “We’re piloting with McMaster University. We’re doing two locations—one in September, the other in January.”
The university setting aligns with the values of the new concept. “We feel that there’s an opportunity in the university world for that type of concept—more along the lines of ethically sourced and sustainability,” he added. “We just feel there’s a niche there for that kind of concept. So we’ll see how this goes.”
As Innovative Food Brands continues to expand and refine its offerings, the focus remains clear. “We saw a good runway with Chopped Leaf,” said Veloce. “And we’re seeing results with that already.”
