INS Foods hosted grand opening for SJ restaurant space.
INS is now serving up more than convenience store items.
George Brown College (GBC) students at the St. James campus are some of the first in the country to dine on freshly made wares from INS Food.
Setting up shop in the Student Association (SA) King’s Lounge, INS Food has been offering students items like sandwiches, burritos, smoothies and even bubble tea, since March. 4.
The official grand opening and ribbon cutting was held in March. 25, where college dignitaries and students were invited out for free samples.
The company chose GBC to open their flagship store because INS has long been an SA vendor, serving students at multiple college campuses.
“We’ve had a very long-lasting relationship here with George Brown and the INS Market has been open here for almost a decade now. Understanding that this is one of the most credible post-secondary institutions in Toronto, it makes sense for us to be here. We tend to choose our locations based on organic foot traffic where there is demand and there’s no better place than to be in a college,” said Amedeo Christian Catenaro, director of marketing for the Davis Group.
The establishment offers fresh, affordable food options tailored for students. This includes pitas and burritos at $9.99, breakfast sandwiches at $4.99, and smoothies for $5.99. They also feature combo deals, like a breakfast combo for $11.99 and a lunch combo for $13.99, emphasizing value and freshness.
Although the preparation of fresh food is a costly job, they believe that there is a solution to this problem. Catenaro notes that working with suppliers that can provide their ingredients at a good price point allows them to ensure that they can pass on the savings to the students of GBC.
What sets INS apart aside from their prices is the care they put into making their food fresh.
Tiina Kamagianis, the director of training for the Davis Group, says, “we realize that we had something different. We took the best of the recipes and really went back to our roots. So, what I mean by that is a lot of the restaurants have precooked proteins.Our proteins are cooked in the oven. We slice the chicken. We make our rice, we cut up our vegetables, and we marinate our beef. So, we’ve gone back to organic food.”
Because of the large international student population, INS Food offers options such as halal, vegetarian and vegan options.
While the flagship location has only just kicked off their time serving fresh foods, INS is already planning on their expansion across Toronto.
INS Food at GBC, is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., in the Kings Lounge (Room 150) at St. James.
