Tim Hortons

Business Concepts
Bus 1038
Joshua Li
February 13th, 2020

Team Name: Kick Assets

Taha Erdogan - 101262268
Zarif Ahmed - 101288753
Bilal Ahmed - 101305173
Veronika Baisheva - 101298958
Lihui Shan (Stephanie) - 101224372
Abdul - 101279299

GROUP PROJECT # 1
 Table of Contents
Company Background Page 1

Vision and Mission Statement Page 1

Technological Trends Page 2

Economical Trends Page 3

Global and other General Trends Page 4

Sustainability Strategies Page 5

Corporate Social Responsibility Strategies Page 5

Employee motivation/empowerment Page 6

program(s)

Conclusion Page 7

Working as a Group Page 8

Reference List/Works Cited Page 9

Company Background

Established in 1964, Tim Hortons is a fast-food restaurant chain known for their

doughnuts and coffee. It was founded in Hamilton, Ontario by the infamous hockey

player

Tim Horton (1930 - 1974) and his friend Jim Charade (1934 - 2009) and is headquartered in

Toronto, Ontario. A total of 4,846 restaurants are operating in 14 different countries and 5

different continents; North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. In 2014, Burger

King agreed to buy and take over Tim Hortons for $11.4 billion and since then are the

third-largest operator of fast food restaurants in the world. Not only does Tim Horton’s

differentiate themselves from burgers and drinks by putting greater emphasis on healthier fresh

home cooking type foods which makes it worth-full but ​also from competitors by building strong

relations with long term loyal customers and rewarding them in their

purchases which brings positive incentives to their customers keeping them

happy while spending.

Company Vision & Mission Statement

Tim Hortons seeks to offer better quality products and services for consumers through

their leadership and innovation. They aim to develop good quality products, and use eco-friendly

materials because they know Canadians are people who prefer to consume high quality, healthy

and environmentally friendly products.

*Credit image 1: Tim Hortons Website

*Credit image 2: CottageLife

Technological Trends impacting Tim Hortons

Although Tim Hortons is a cost-efficient option compared to the majority of their

competitors, they are second to none when it comes to their technological development. Their

two main sources of advertising are through Twitter and Instagram. Although their Facebook

page has over 3 million followers, there is rarely any online presence on that platform.

Seemingly, they are focusing on reaching a younger target audience as the older audience is

already successfully retained by Tim Hortons without much use of technology. Tim Hortons is

also very accommodating towards its customers’ ordering preference. They understand that

some consumers are not fond of social interaction so they have introduced their Tim Hortons

mobile app where consumers can order food for pick-up. For those who do not have time to

order beforehand, Tim Hortons has introduced self-order kiosks to maintain social interaction to

a minimum. They have also made ordering food more convenient and accessible by partnering

with SkipTheDishes to introduce home delivery in more populated areas such as The Greater

Toronto Area (GTA), Edmonton, Vancouver, and Ottawa. To attract new consumers and retain

the old ones, Tim Hortons has also successfully launched their ‘Tim’s Rewards’ loyalty program

which makes users eligible to receive free coffee, tea, or a baked good after every 7 purchases

using the rewards card (which can be used at self-serve kiosks and on the Tim Hortons app). To

remain as cost-efficient, rewarding, and updated for their consumers as possible, Tim Hortons

plans to revamp their loyalty program later in 2020. In April 2018, the upgrades Tim Hortons

made to their software and supply chain process caused a few issues resulting in numerous

franchises not receiving supplies such as coffee, bottled water, and garbage bags. However, as

usual, Tim Hortons was quick to get back on their feet within two months and invest CA$ 100

million on building two new warehouses and expanding a new one in order to speed up the

supply chain.
Economic Trends impacting Tim Hortons

With the combination of growing trends, Tim Hortons is effectively maintaining their

dominant presence and brand recognition in Canada, while continuing to use their strong brand

name to become a leading competitor in the North American market. Operating on current

economic trends, Tim Hortons offers a wide variety of products priced reasonably which are

desired by the customer. With high numbers of competitors on the rise, Tim Hortons is required

to be up to date with the marketing mix implemented by the competitors in order to remain

relevant and sustainable. In recent years there has been a big growth in the rank of workers due

to the enormous amount of immigrants coming into Canada, which has helped the

unemployment rate to go down especially in the private sector. ​24,900 jobs were added to the

food industry. With an average payment of more than $12, Tim Hortons are key providers of

part time jobs. Their job rate has been consistent but challenges are met as the rise of

minimum wage affects the company directly. ​A recent rise in trend for increasing minimum

wages puts Tim Hortons profit at a huge risk. Unless certain changes are made to their prices or

cost in goods, it’s difficult for them to maintain a profit margin which evaluates their success

rate.​ ​As previously mentioned, Tim Hortons, like Starbucks, had its own loyalty program called

Tim’s Rewards where members are able to earn and accumulate "Rewards' ' that can be

redeemed for eligible items. Later they revamped that loyalty program to ‘Tim Hortons Roll Up

The Rim', where consumers can earn points play games and redeem those points to win

various prizes. Depending on the amount of points, customers can receive free coffee to

different set menu items. It’s a futuristic and new approach which helps them build customer

loyalty. Operating over 4846 restaurants all over the world, both political and legal environment

affect the operation chain (wage laws, tax policies etc). For example, having to import their
coffee from Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, Kenya, El Salvador and other South and Central

American countries ensures great taste but also costs a lot due to tariffs .

Global and other general trends impacting Tim Hortons

Just like with any other company, global trends impact Tim Hortons just as much as

technological or economic ones. Not only does Tim Hortons compete with international,

national, and regional fast food chains in Canada, but they also compete with brands in other

countries as an international food chain. Nationally speaking, two of Tim Hortons biggest

competitors are McDonald’s and Starbucks. However, besides their consistent technological

advancements, a reason why consumers in Canada prefer Tim Hortons is because it is the only

Canadian food-chain out of the three. Research shows that 88% of consumers believe that

Canadian foods and beverages are of the same or better quality as it’s competitors (PWC). In

2011, Tim Hortons signed a master license agreement with the Dubai-based Apparel Group to

launch up to 120 chains in the Persian Gulf over the span of 5 years. Due to Tim Hortons being

one of the only restaurants in Dubai to sell French Vanilla coffee, they quickly climbed the

ladder and conquered 5th place amongst 198 coffee and tea shops in Dubai (HIVE). Another

agreement that tremendously benefited Tim Hortons was the merger with Burger King in the

sense that systemwide sales went up by 9.3% just in the first year after the merger took place

(restaurant business )

Sustainability Strategies

Firstly, Tim Hortons continues to expand both food and beverage items on its menu in order to

retain current customers and attract new ones. Secondly, Tim Hortons price their products well

and thus have products that appeal to all income groups. Furthermore,​ Tim Hortons have more

than four thousand restaurants all over the world, most of the branches being located in

convenient spots. The convenience of the location is another factor that retains and attracts
customers. Moreover, Tim Hortons is expanding internationally. As previously mentioned, they

launched multiple restaurants in the Middle East and ​plan to open more than 1,500 of their

branches in China over the next decade.​ Last but not least, Tim Hortons promotes their product

through different campaigns and advertisements. As a result of these tactics, the sales of their

company has been increasing consistently.

Corporate Social Responsibility Strategies

Tim Hortons make sure to always give back to their stakeholders. Their goal is to satisfy

customer needs and wants by providing balanced nutrition, food safety and hospitality. The

company strives to offer consumers a delicious, balanced menu that includes all the ingredients,

calorie counting and pictures of food and beverages. The company is constantly developing

new products and makes efforts to improve food quality. For example, it reduced sodium

content in muffins (by 33%) , classic bagels (by 9%) and chipotle sandwich (by 9%).

All new staff must complete food safety training and be tested to get a certification. The

Guest Services team try their best to answer all the inquiries from customers. According to the

statistics, Tim Hortons received more than 170,000 guest comments and 525,000 social media

comments in 2014. (Tim Hortons, 2014).

Tim Hortons creates, helps and encourages a lot of different public communities. Thanks

to their work, changes can be made both in life as a whole and in the existence of an individual.

Under Tim Horton Children’s Foundation, the company helps teenagers from low-income

families to develop their full potential. According to Performance Report (2014), Restaurant

owners and consumers raised $11.8 million on camp day to support more than 17,000 children

to attend camps. Their Smile Cookie program sells cookies for one week during September and
all the money gathered goes to local charities, hospitals and community programs. As stated in

Sustainability Report (2014), the event raised $5.3 million for over 500 local charities. Tim

Hortons continue to maintain a partnership with Aboriginal communities through the Aboriginal

Relations program which promotes Aboriginal-owned restaurants or self-serve kiosks on

Aboriginal lands since 2012.

Tim Hortons also understands that use of natural resources and production of goods can

have a negative input on the environment. The company considers the environment when

creating the design of packages, its amount and transportation. Therefore, they strive to reduce

the amount of waste in restaurants by offering ceramic dishes for customers who eat inside the

restaurant and offer a discount of 10 cents for hot drinks if consumers bring their own travel

mugs. In order to create more eco-friendly restaurants, Tim Hortons evaluate new designs,

constructions and technological methods. In 2014 more than 200 restaurants made repairs,

which contributed to the energy savings of about four million kilowatt-hours province-wide. In the

distribution of goods, fuel consumption plays a significant factor affecting carbon emissions. To

reduce it, they started combining restaurant deliveries with empty return trips with their incoming

delivery provider which avoided 4383 shipments that led to 540 tonnes of reduced carbon

emissions. Also, animal welfare is a priority that applies across all animal care concepts in their

supply chain. With the help of researchers at the University of Guelph, Tim Hortons delivered

more than 12% of eggs from producers who use alternative chicken keeping systems.

​Employee Motivation & Empowerment Programs

Tim Hortons focus on employee Learning and Development by providing several

programs such as the tuition reimbursement program, distribution leadership essentials

program, and supply chain passport program. "To attract, engage and retain great employees,
we are committed to providing a multi-dimensional rewards program including base pay,

benefits, incentive pay opportunities, learning and development opportunities, and a great work

environment (Anonymous, 2015)". In addition, Tim Hortons also offers many health and

wellness programs, such as employee health fairs, health prevention initiatives, lunch and

learns, incentive programs and “Fit Tips” that focus on various topics such as nutrition, physical

fitness, mental health, and financial health. Employees working in the head office are allowed

access to an onsite fitness center and employees working in all of the regional offices are

eligible for an annual $200 fitness subsidy to go towards any fitness activity of their choice.

Furthermore, training sessions on topics such as Violence and Harassment Prevention, Rights

and Responsibilities, Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System , Material Handling,

Transportation of Dangerous Goods, etc… are also an integral part of Tim Hortons. Moreover,

Tim Hortons focus on the Standards of Business practices to help employees better understand

ethical issues. Additionally, the company's scholarship program offers 200 scholarships each

year in Canada and 20 scholarships in the United States, each worth $1,000. Last but not least,

Tim Hortons also provides e-learning programs, for different skills and knowledge to provide

training courses.

Conclusion

Tim Hortons is arguably Canada’s most favorite fast-food chain specializing in coffee

and doughnuts. ​From a total of 4,846 restaurants operating in 15 different countries and 5

different continents, Tim Hortons has managed to progressively advance economically,

technologically, and globally. Tim Hortons is second to none with consistent improvements to

their technology such as introducing home delivery, self-service kiosks, the Tim Hortons app,

etc… Economically speaking, Tim Hortons has really reflected Canada’s values on diversity by

introducing 24,000+ jobs, especially for immigrants. From a global perspective, Tim Hortons
have expanded to 4 other continents beside North America, launched over 100 restaurants in

the Middle East and Europe and still continue to expand in China. As far as it goes for staying

competitive, Tim Hortons has implemented multiple strategies such as the Tim’s Rewards

Program, Roll Up The Rim, expanding their menus, and embracing their patriotism. The

company does many things to remain socially responsible, one of the main ones being Tim

Hortons Children’s Foundation raising almost $11.8 million to support over 17,000 children.

Working as a Group

Working as a group, we realized that each of us has our own methods of researching.

Thanks to that, each of us were able to help the other on parts of this assignment that we were

stuck on. Besides learning more about Tim Hortons, we also learned how essential

communication is. Had we not communicated well enough, this assignment would not have

been completed on time. If there is one thing our group could have done differently, it was to

meet in person to clarify the structure of the assignment better and avoid any repetition.
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Timeline: Corporate. (2019, June 26). Retrieved from

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https://www.dawsoncreekmirror.ca/sports/history-of-tim-horton-1.24008376

Tim Hortons. (2020). FAQ. Retrieved Feb 7, 2020, from​ ​timhortons.com/tims-rewards-faq

Statista. (2019). Number of Tim Hortons restaurants in North America 2007-2018, by country. Lock.
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https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/services/17517-tim-hortons.html

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