________________________________________________________________________________________________ Impact Kitchen
Created to address the need for truly healthy dining options in the Toronto marketplace, Impact Kitchen was founded in 2015 with a clear and uncompromising philosophy. What began as a bold idea between personal trainer and nutrition coach Josh Broun and entrepreneur Frank Toskan has grown into nine nutrition-focused, all-day restaurants and cafés across Toronto and New York City.
“ My business partner, Frank Toskan, and I founded Impact Kitchen in 2015. Our story is quite unique: I was originally a personal trainer and nutrition coach, and Frank was one of my clients,” Josh begins.“ After conversations where we talked about opportunities in food, beverage and hospitality, we developed a concept centered around a distinct food philosophy and a passion for building a community around our brand. The concept for Impact Kitchen emerged from those discussions.”
At the time, the idea was ambitious. Few believed a strictly nutrition-driven restaurant, free of gluten, refined sugars, and seed oils, could scale successfully. But both founders believed there was a better way to eat, even when industry experts suggested the model would be too complex to execute.
A couple of years after those initial conversations, Impact Kitchen opened its first location in Corktown, Toronto.“ At that time, we had no restaurant experience, no website, and no Instagram presence,” Josh recalls.“ However, we had a strong brand built on our food philosophy and commitment to hospitality, and a mindset that emphasized getting to know our customers one at a time. By the end of our first year, we found ourselves with lines out the door, enabling us to open additional locations.”
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