A BATTLE IS BREWING
Tims testing new blend
After successfully poaching some customers back from Starbucks and McDonald’s when it introduced its dark roast coffee last fall, on Wednesday, Tim Hortons will begin grinding up another blend to pour into Canada’s coffee wars.
Three Peaks Colombian is a premium coffee with beans sourced from the specialized growing region of Cauca, Colombia, where Andean soil enriched by volcanic ash provides a caramel undertone, executives say, to the medium roast blend.
It’s the latest bid from Canada’s biggest restaurant chain to hype up interest in its coffee after its industry rivals have made bolder inroads into the category during the past five years.
Dark roast sales now account for 14- 15 per cent of overall drip coffee sales at Tim Hortons, “which is phenomenal for a coffee we’ve had basically for about six months,” said David Clanachan, president and chief operating officer for Tim Hortons Canada.
“The way our customers have taken to this idea of different coffee at Tim Hortons really led us to ( believe) we can take the expertise we have in the coffee market and use it to introduce Canadians to other types of coffee. We see a need and want ( for variety) from customers — you see it with craft beer and wine and scotch. We think coffee is following that same trend, and we see coffee as an affordable adventure.”
The new coffee will be available for eight weeks in five test markets: Abitibi, Que.; Saint John and Moncton in New Brunswick; and, in Sudbury and North Bay in Ontario.
If it proves popular, Three Peaks and other so- called “single- origin” coffees from different coffee- growing regions, could be extended throughout Tim Hortons’ network of restaurants, part of the company’s plan to introduce new coffee varieties for limited periods of time, much like they do with certain baked goods throughout the year.
“It changes it up, and gives people an opportunity to try new things,” Clanachan said.
The strategy is aimed at generating consumer interest in a market known for seeking the next new trend, driving up sales and raising Tim Hortons’ profile as a coffee authority.
“In a marketplace that’s flat, Tim Hortons needs to steal new customers,” in order to grow its market share, said Robert Carter, executive director at market research firm NPD Group Canada.
“Dark roast coffee targeted the Starbucks consumer, and it did end up attracting Starbucks customers. ( Tim Hortons) is also taking share back from McDonald’s, as well,” Carter said. “Now the goal is to continue to build on that platform as the coffee palates of Canadians diversify, and they look for more gourmet style- blends. It gives more of a reason for consumers to come back to Tim Hortons on a regular basis.”
NPD said more limited time offers were made on Canadian restaurant menus last year than ever before, and the research firm expects the trend to continue.
“Traditionally, Tims hasn’t used that strategy very much as a menu item, but we will see them doing more of this positioning because of the challenged marketplace.”
Tim Hortons has long been the market share leader in Canadian coffee, selling eight out of every 10 cups at quick serve restaurants across Canada.
But McDonald’s began chipping away at Tims’ dominance when it introduced a reformulated “premium blend” Arabica medium roast coffee in 2009 and gave it away to customers for free for two weeks of every year, doubling its market share since 2009. It also revamped its espresso offerings.
In the meantime, Starbucks introduced a lighter “Blonde Roast” coffee blend to attract the customer more attracted to the lighter-tasting flavour of Tim Hortons original blend.