Tim Hortons has become the latest entry in the all-day breakfast battle.
Fastest-growing segment in food service
TORONTO • Canadians craving breakfast sandwiches from Tim Hortons will soon be able to eat them any time of day.
The quick-serve restaurant chain will offer all-day breakfast in locations across Canada as of Wednesday following a successful pilot project in several Ontario locations this spring, Tim Hortons announced Monday.
“The demand is loud and clear,” Tim Hortons president Alex Macedo said in an interview with The Canadian Press when the pilot launched in May. “Any time we bring up the idea of breakfast at any time, the response is very favourable and very strong.”
Tim Hortons, owned by Restaurant Brands International Inc., is known in Canada for its dominance in brewed coffee, but competition is heating up in the breakfast sector, which is the fastest-growing segment in Canadian food service, according to industry research.
McDonald’s Canada and A&W Food Services of Canada both started offering allday breakfast at their restaurants in February 2017. Two years prior, McDonald’s reported a surge in sales at its U.S. locations when it made Egg McMuffins and hash browns available at any time.
McDonald’s in May also started serving bagels at its Canadian locations in a bid to further grow breakfast sales by taking a bite of the billion-dollar bagel market. It is also expanding its McCafé brand in Canada, launching two stand-alone locations to take on Tim Hortons and Starbucks in the ultra-competitive coffee segment.
As it stands, Tim Hortons’ percentage of the brewed coffee market share is in the mid-70s. But it has been struggling with a drop in its reputation with consumers in the past year after a drawn-out battle with a franchisee group that is suing the parent company. This spring, it fell to No. 50 from fourth place in a Leger survey of admired companies in Canada.
The franchisees’ issues include supply delivery delays, cost-cutting measures and a multimillion-dollar renovation plan. Macedo has been travelling to locations across the country to try to mend the divide.
In June, the company announced it would spend $100 million to upgrade its distribution system and open two new warehouses.
Despite the branding challenges, Tim Hortons’ revenue continues to grow, albeit slightly, due to international market expansion.
As Tim Hortons tries to smooth tensions, it has also been looking into new services such as children’s menus, loyalty programs, self-order kiosks and home delivery. It also plans to renovate at least half of its 4,000 Canadian locations by 2021.