TIM HORTONS

Franchise fight damaging iconic coffee brand

TORONTO While the ugly fight between Tim Hortons and its franchisees appears to be far from over, a clear loser has emerged from the battle — Canada’s iconic coffee brand.

What’s puzzling, say marketing and communications experts, is why the country’s biggest quickservice restaurant chain is not in full-blown damage-control mode after more than a week of a public outcry from its own Tim Hortons restaurant owners, their aggrieved employees and consumers.

Tim Hortons’ corporate Twitter and Facebook profiles, normally home to the coffee and doughnut chain’s daily postings, have not been updated since the New Year, where the most recent postings have piled up condemnatory comments from the public.

“Tim Hortons has not addressed this properly,” said John Miziolek, brand strategist and co-founder of Reset Branding. “We have an iconic Canadian brand that is being dragged through the mud.”

A week ago, when reports circulated that some Ontario Tim Hortons franchisees had cut staff benefits and paid breaks in response to the province’s minimum wage hikes, Premier Kathleen Wynne accused the franchisees in question of bullying employees. Head office responded by blaming the actions on a “rogue group” of franchisees.

Since then, the brand has stayed mum as the outcry has only intensified this week with a social media movement, “No Timmies Tuesday,” encouraging consumers to boycott the chain, and organized labour protests outside several Ontario Tim Hortons restaurants on Wednesday. When asked for further comment Wednesday, Tim Hortons referred to its statements from last week.

The latest blowup highlights ongoing franchisee discontent three years after Tim Hortons was bought by Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital and merged with Burger King to form Restaurant Brands International Inc.

The deal brought 3G’s cost-cutting playbook to Canada, along with more stringent rules and benchmarks for franchisees, who saw a big shift in the corporate culture, a change in suppliers and a less direct relationship with the new head office management.

Last year, a group of unhappy franchisees banded together to form the Great White North Franchisee Association, saying a number of concerns, including declining product quality, were not being addressed by management. GWNFA’s membership now accounts for more than half of the company’s 1,100 franchisees in Canada.