Tim Hortons – Canadian Company

By – Lakashpreet Singh

Student ID - 5092493

BA1010: Business Communication

Andrew Grieve-Gehring

April 19, 2024

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 Introduction

In Canada, the Tim Hortons restaurant brand is well recognized for its coffee,
doughnuts, and connection to the country's identity. It was jointly established by
businessman Jim Charade of Montreal and its namesake, defenceman Tim Horton of
the Toronto Maple Leafs (1930–1974). The very first Tim Hortons donut shop opened its
doors in Hamilton, Ontario, in May 1964. Tim Hortons grew over the next several years
to become Canada's largest restaurant franchise. As of September 2023, it operated
1,827 overseas locations and 3,874 local stores. American fast food chains Tim Hortons
and Wendy's partnered in 1995 and stayed that way until 2006. Once again, the brand
was purchased by a foreign company in 2014. This time, it was Burger King's parent
company, 3G Capital, a well-known Brazilian company. The prominence of Tim Hortons
as a Canadian cultural phenomenon has not decreased due to foreign ownership.

Business practices

Tim Hortons employs a variety of turnaround tactics.

1. Celebrity collaborations. McDonald's advertised combos that were approved by
celebrities in 2020 under the "Famous Orders" campaign. Sales increased as a result of
this. In 2021, Tim Hortons and Justin Bieber worked together to launch a marketing
campaign that included three brand-new, limited-edition Timbiebs: birthday cake waffle,
sour cream chocolate chip, and white fudge. Bieber is a well-known musician from
Canada. The partnership worked well, raising sales and raising brand recognition. The
celebrity's brand identity was authentically promoted, staying true to it. Through the
deal, Tim Hortons can reach a younger audience without alienating its more established
patrons. The campaign emphasized the need to avoid being stuck in a loop of doing the
same thing over and over again, and it was separate from Tim Hortons' promotion of
bread and butter. The collaboration highlighted the need of being current without going
overboard by bringing up subjects and audiences outside of hockey.

2. Interaction on digital platforms Retailers such as Tim Hortons changed their online
presence in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most notably via their Roll Up the
Rim to Win campaign. In the previous game, players had to roll a cup up to see whether
they had won anything. Instead of giving out millions of cup rims, Tim Hortons decided
to go digital with the promotion. Visitors praised the digital game for being entertaining
and easy to use, which led to over 30% of all transactions in Q1 2021 coming from
digital channels, including the app. With two million downloads in March 2021—double
the amount seen at the event last year—the digital game also increased app
downloads. More Canadians interacted with the company online when the classic Roll
Up the Rim game was updated.

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3. Enhancements in quality For many years, McDonald's and Starbucks have competed
with Tim Hortons, a Canadian fast-food chain. According to a 2018 Angus Reid survey,
14% of respondents said Tim Hortons' coffee quality had improved and 19% said it had
declined. Of those surveyed, 8% thought Tim Hortons' quality of service had improved
and 25% thought it had become worse. Thirteen percent felt that the quality of service
was higher than at Starbucks. Professor Sylvain Charlebois of Dalhousie University
emphasized that Tim Hortons must improve the quality of their main commodity, coffee.
Tim Hortons went back to its roots by removing artificial additives from its main menu,
use fresh cracked eggs in breakfast sandwiches, and investing in technology to improve
the quality of their coffee. The management of the firm believes that these
enhancements are the right course of action for the brand and are starting to have a
positive commercial impact.

4. A shift in the direction of simplicity With 60 new goods added to its menu in 2019—
three times the usual amount—Tim Hortons faced an increasing problem. Customers
had uncertainty as a result, and staff struggled to keep up with the changes, which
caused suffering. A plant-based Beyond Meat burger was one of the new choices;
however, it was quickly removed off the menu. Future editions, according to Tim
Hortons CEO Duncan Fulton, would be more narrowly focused and will cover more
ground in their core areas. The in-restaurant experience, digital engagement, and food
and beverage menu items are the three areas where Tim Hortons is going "back to
basics" in response to a 1.5% decline in same-store sales in 2019. They have been
doing better this year than last, mostly because they have focused on simplifying and
cutting down on their menu. Given that breakfast generates the most revenue for fast
food establishments, Tim Hortons is likewise focusing on this segment.

International Expansion

Tim Hortons started out in Canada and has had success expanding internationally. Tim
Hortons aims to have 1,000 locations in China by the end of 2023, having 600 as of the
end of 2022. The chairman of Tim Hortons China, Peter Yu, remarked, "It sounds like
an ambitious goal, but it's really quite manageable." "There's no denying the appeal of
the Chinese market. We see great opportunity to meet that aim since the coffee market
is the one that is expanding the quickest in the globe. Interesting trivia. Since Timbits
did not catch on in China as they had in Canada, Chinese customers may now choose
to buy mochi holes instead.

In 2022, Tim Hortons opened its first store in New Delhi, India, with plans to open 300
more there in the next ten years. All in all, Tim Hortons operates more than 5,000
locations throughout more than ten nations, including the Philippines, Canada, the
United States, Mexico, Spain, China, the United Kingdom, China, and Thailand. In India
specially in Punjab state the first tim is open in the business heart of Punjab known as
Chandigarh and then open in Bathinda, I personally visited Bathinada location it is very
beautiful and a completely different concept in india because drive-through is not
common is india and people are crazy on fist day when tim Hortons is opened and the
taste of all coffee and donuts are completely different, but the taste is very good.

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 Business Practice Recommendations

Tim Hortons is the most popular and famous coffee as well as fast food restaurant
in Canada with the largest loyal customer base. Although Tim Hortons is pretty
good in customer service, I personally think that they must focus on improving the
customer experience both in-store and online. Moreover, I believe that Tim
Hortons needs to expand its menu to fulfil the customer’s needs and consider
offering plant-based alternatives and also some alternatives for vegans. I also
think that Tim Hortons needs to focus on digital marking.

Conclusion

Tim Hortons has evolved to be one of the coffee brand in Canada, with a loyal
consumers and staff base. They have built the firm up with tight, high-performing
business processes as defined in their code of conduct. Although tim hortans is very
successful company, I personally think that tim Horton need to focus on digital marking
and also focus on a variety of food alternatives.

References

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tim-hortons

https://www.indigo9digital.com/blog/timhortonsturnaroundstrategy

https://eslquestionsabout.com/esl-questions-about-tim-hortons/

https://www.rebellionresearch.com/what-is-tim-hortons-famous-for

https://inkspire.org/post/canadas-coffee-how-tim-hortons-fits-into-canadian-identity/-
MCZDS7W-d4MehlLwY6B

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Hortons

https://www.rli.uk.com/tim-horton-striving-for-excellence/

How Many Tim Hortons Are There in the World in 2024? The Surprising Answer! | Coffee Affection

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