Boisbriand, April 1, 2008 —Commensal is taking advantage of the official opening of its brand-new restaurant, situated at the Faubourg Boisbriand, 3470 Avenue des Grandes Tourelles, to introduce its refined, vibrant, lively new image and its new interior design. This important update is the first step in a major overhaul started a year ago in anticipation of increased development of the chain and its products, which will involve investments of between $5 million and $10 million in coming years.

Commensal presents a brand-new design and shows its colours

Nutritious, ethical, organic, and conscientious, the Commensal brand targets consumers who are convinced that their health starts with what they eat. Commensal’s cuisine comes straight from nature and is just as generous. This idea is expressed by earth brown and soft green, while the orange represents the sunshine in Commensal’s dishes. The décor and layout also had to be inspired by natural materials without much processing, to bring nature to the fore. The interior of the new Commensal restaurant in Boisbriand was designed by LEMAYMICHAUD, architecture and design firm.

LEMAYMICHAUD, partner with the new Commensal

All changes made to the brand are presented in the new Boisbriand restaurant. The restaurant presents a trendier, friendlier ambience. “Self-serve is one of the features specific to Commensal restaurants,” notes Alain Lemay, senior partner architecture and design firm LEMAYMICHAUD.  Therefore, the customer route (or buffet format) was completely rethought to take account of this specificity. Customers will continue to be in charge of their comings and goings, but they will find more in the restaurant. New functionalities will include filtered water and carbonated water servers. “The new design harmonizes the content – that is, what customers eat at Commensal – and the container. The colours, design, and materials are not aggressive or excessive. In fact, they are linked to the healthy and natural aspects of Commensal’s food and offer customers a simple, trendy décor.”

This change of image was produced by the agency Zoum Armada, which specializes in brand architecture and commercialization. “We had the pleasure of developing a brand that is associated more closely than ever with way of life that encourages healty diet and physical exercise, responsible behaviour, being concerned about the environment, and sustainable development,” explained Elisabeth Deschesnes, president of Zoum Armada. “What could be more interesting than to recreate and update a brand to match these life values, which, as we know, are more and more present at all levels of society. The work that we have accomplished with LEMAYMICHAUD reflects, in all ways, the in-depth thought process that we undertook, at the heart of which are the Commensal customers and their intrinsic needs, their independence, and their freedom of choice and actions.”

About Commensal

Commensal is a real pioneer in the vegetarian restaurant sector and healthy prepared foods in Quebec.  With its Ready-to-eat-well ™ approach, Commensal offers 7 restaurants (6 in Quebec and 1 in Ontario), a line of products for food services, and almost 50 prepared foods sold under the Commensal^TM brand in some 800 points of sale in Quebec. Designed for the pleasure of eating healthy, Commensal products, in addition to being vegetarian, are cooked with selected ingredients with no artificial trans fats, preservatives, or artificial colorants or flavours. The company uses only GMO-free ingredients, thus meeting the criteria required by organic certification. All Commensal soups, frozen foods, seasoned vege meals, and spreads have been approved by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada’s Health Check^TM program. The packaging is made from 100% recycled paper. The company, verified by Ecocert Canada, meets the needs of consumers concerned with healthy nutrition.

For more information on Commensal or on LEMAYMICHAUD, please visit www.commensal.com or www.lemaymichaud.com.

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NOTE: A virtual visit to the new restaurant in Boisbriand and photographs are available at the following URL:  http://www.commensal.com/en/qui/photo-gallery/default.idigit 
or http://www.commensal.com/en/qui/retail-food/default.idigit.

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