Tim Hortons in spat over coffee pots
Franchisees claim coffee carafes have injured employees
The parent company of Tim Hortons is denying a claim by a group of franchisees that the coffee pots they’re required to use have been shattering and injuring employees.
Restaurant Brands International (RBI) says the claims of faulty coffee pots are yet another “false accusation” from a group of franchisees with whom the company has been embroiled in a war of words and lawsuits for more than a year.
“We continue to receive reports of shattering coffee and tea pots,” reads a letter from Peter Proszanski, a lawyer at Toronto-based Himelfarb Proszanski and the Great White North Franchisee Association’s counsel, to the head of legal at Tim Hortons dated Thursday, Aug. 30.
The letter alleges an “unprecedented” number of such incidents, including one as recently as Aug. 29, have emerged since the association asked members to report any issues. The association is an unsanctioned franchisee group started more than a year ago to give a voice to restaurant owners concerned over alleged mismanagement. It claims to represent about half of Canada’s franchisees and also has an American chapter.
“Franchisees and their employees are currently suffering from serious injuries as a result of the shattering coffee and tea pots,” Proszanski wrote, including “burnt thighs, feet and genitals.” The group first brought the issue to the parent company more than a year ago in a letter dated July 21, 2017, according to the letter. Though Restaurant Brands acknowledged the group’s concern, it failed to follow up, Proszanski wrote.
The group wants the parent company to investigate the pots, which it says appear to weigh less than ones previously used, according to the letter.
It alleges the coffee and tea pots put franchisees, employees and customers at risk, and asks for permission to source the pots from another supplier.
If the company fails to respond by Sept. 7, Proszanski wrote the group will interpret that as consent to choose an alternate supplier.
Restaurant Brands denies the allegations.
“I can tell you with certainty that the suggestion that Tim Hortons or RBI in any way has changed the manufacturing of our coffee pots is 100 per cent false,” wrote spokesperson Jane Almeida in an emailed statement.
The company spoke to the manufacturer, which confirmed it has not changed how it makes or sources the product in over a decade, she said. The manufacturer also informed RBI that other brands using the same pot have not reported such issues.
“We have conducted extensive quality assurance testing that has proven that the only way to consistently replicate the breakage of a glass pot is if it is used incorrectly.”
When asked if RBI is considering pursuing legal action against the association, Almeida said “it would be inappropriate to comment.”
The franchisee group “makes frequent and false accusations for the sole purpose of what we can only believe is generating media awareness for their small group,” she said in her initial statement.
The group sent the letter to Restaurant Brands and one hour later to the media, she said, which “tells you everything you need to know about their sincerity in working with the company.”
Some franchisees and management have had a tense relationship since RBI, majority owned by Brazil’s 3G Capital, took over the coffee-and-doughnut chain.