I don’t remember the last time I ate at Tim Hortons. The once massive Canadian coffee and donut chain has slowly slipped into the shadows of other giant fast food chains. But how? If Tim Hortons captivated the Canadian market so firmly when we were young, why now does the chain feel so far from home?
I have one answer for you. Burger King.
As of August 2014, Burger King bought out our beloved Tim Horton for 11.4 billion US dollars. Who would have known that our childhood memories of eating Timbits would cost that much? Since then Tim Hortons received a botched face lift from a US corporation who knows nothing about the Canadan market or donuts. This explains why weird menu items such as the Beyond Burger, a plant-based patty free of soy and gluten, began popping up on the menu.
Tim Hortons’ once simplistic and frill free menu spoiled when confusing items that just didn’t fit were placed on the menu. Sure, burgers are great, there is no denying that, but the idea of selling burgers in a coffee shop is strange.
The Tim Hortons menu has changed too much and too fast, failing to engage a new type of consumer to the store and scaring away their devout customers. Many Timmies lovers like myself enjoyed the simplicity of the store once upon a time. There was no question of soy, almond or coconut milk, there was just milk or cream, double double or black. Now all of a sudden things got complicated. The reveal of their new lattes rebels against the traditionality of their brand. If I wanted to get funky with my cup of joe, I would just go to Starbucks.
Ever since they converged into a fusion fast food chain, serving items from coffees to burgers the brand doesn’t hit close to home like it used to. The once cultural icon now feels like a greasy corporation which has lost its Canadian identity that was once held so close to its heart, and the heart of their customers.