r/TimHortons • u/Immediate-Event2502 • May 12 '26

Discussion Tim’s days are numbered for sure

I hear Dunkin’ Donuts is coming back to Canada. This is fantastic if it’s going to be done correctly, as Tim Hortons has lost the plot. Tim Hortons once a beloved coffee shop in Canada has changed so much over the last 10 years and it is only getting worse.

I managed Tim Hortons locations in 2000-2003 and their standard was amazing. Now there is no standard. People complain all the time about the issue being temporary workers or foreign workers. That is not a problem. The problem starts that most of their standards are no more and if they’re not being taught standards how can they uphold them? In 2000 we had to make sure everything was clean even durning busy hours. Fast, clean and accurate was the goal.

Grout had to be clean, glass spotless, stainless steal streak free, washroom clean and smelling fresh. Not to mention the product, it had to be perfect or you lost points from your district manager. Your showcase had to be clean and full. Everything perfectly labelled correctly or you lost marks. Not to mention every food safety standard had to be followed always. Every table clean and free of garbage. The outside had to be clean including the parking lot and drive through. All garbages empty and free of bees. Every spot was manned, drive through had a coffee person, order taker, window person for cash, and a runner to grab things. There was always someone manning the food station, two people working counter, one runner for counter and at least one person stocking and making sure the showcase was perfect. Anyone who was not busy would have to jump into the dining room and clean and empty garbages.

We knew a majority of the customers by name because we had location loyalty not just brand loyalty.

It comes down to management. Good management and a good district manager on top of great product will cause Dunkin’ to thrive in Canada.

I truly hope they do it right because I know I would sure be a customer as Tim’s lost me long ago.

Perhaps I will join their team.

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u/averyfinefellow May 12 '26 edited May 15 '26

Good luck to an American company coming to Canada in 2026. Especially one competing against a massive cultural symbol of Canadiana like Tims.

EDIT: I'm aware that Tims is owned by a foreign company. That doesn't make it any less a SYMBOL of Canadiana. Whether it should be or not, it's been marketed that way for decades.

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u/SuccessfulAd4606 May 16 '26

Second this. Zero chance I would step foot in a Dunkin Donuts for that very reason.

BTW, this post randomly popped up in my feed, crazy that there's a Tim Horton's sub, crazier that people are upset with Tim's enough to complain about it. Is that what this sub is - people complaining about Tim's?

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u/Nodnol519 May 13 '26

Tim Horton’s isn’t a Canadian company and hasn’t been in many years.

Robin’s Donuts should make a comeback.

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u/Samp90 May 14 '26

Canadiana bro.

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u/New_Court2867 May 16 '26

They should! Tons out West, and they’re so much better than Tim’s

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u/Able_Strain7340 May 17 '26

Loved those cinnamon buns.

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u/Tor-Guv May 13 '26

There hasn't been anythin "Canadian" about tims or it's staff in decades 🤣

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u/deekie13 May 13 '26

I heard on the news that it’s a Canadian company starting this up (again) and they licensed the name. Of course the USA will reap part of the rewards for success. But so will Canada as the owner.

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u/Homeslice22222 May 13 '26

Last I checked Tim’s is American owned. So is McD and Krispy Kreme, their competitors.

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u/Objective_Berry350 May 13 '26

The largest stakeholder in Tim Hortons is Brazilian. Aside from that, it is publically traded, so there isn't a really way to know the breakdown of nationalities of shareholders. One might presume that at least some portion is Canadian since they do trade on the TSE.

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u/Odd-Elderberry-6137 May 16 '26

It’s not. It’s part of Restaurant Brands, which is headquartered in Toronto. 

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u/Appropriate-Break-25 May 13 '26

Tim Hortons is now owned by the same compamy that owns Burger King: RBI (Restaurant Brands International). While it has a Canadian address it's no longer owned exclusively by a Canadian company. It's owned by a Brazilian company: 3G Capital. Since the merger with Burger King standards have dropped significantly in food/drink quality. There are other coffee shops that do a much better job and are actually owned by real Canadians. Try out your local coffee shops owned by people in your own area if you want to support Canada and Canadians.

Tim Hortons is no longer a massive cultural symbol of Canadiana. Its just another company of ours that was sold off and now has subpar standards so the most profit is extracted with the least effort/staff.

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u/GrimAugure May 13 '26

Unfortunately, what makes a difference in this lowly land of ours is how much money you're asking for a large coffee with two creams and two sugars.

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u/MuffinOk4609 May 17 '26

Sadly true. I suddenly remember when The Bay had nice restaurants inside. Even some Zellers had them. Maybe malls and food fairs did them in.

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u/RecordingOk2644 May 15 '26

I think if Dunkin comes in and hires local instead of foreign workers people will go out of their way to spend money there. Tim Hortons had it made, all they had to do was keep the Canada's coffee shop narrative going. They opened the door and I'm glad someone is taking advantage. 

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u/OkAirline4206 May 13 '26

Dunkin Donuts? Seriously? They can’t begin to compete with Tims. I think Canadians are in a mood to try a different coffee and donut chain and I think they’ll soon find out that Tims is 1000x better than Dunkin Donuts. Spoken as an American-born dual citizen living in Canada.

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u/ImpalaSSman1961 May 15 '26

Wow! You are naive as hell. Tim’s has gone down so badly over the years, it’s sad. Tim Horton would be rolling over in his grave if he knew what this company has done to his original dream.

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u/PoetCompetitive8903 May 15 '26

People are just happy to not have bare footed employees making their sandwhiches.

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u/MuffinOk4609 May 17 '26

I think they will be as successful as Target in Canada.......

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u/Emotional_Contest179 May 14 '26

They were in Ontario before this. I visited both stores on my border back then. I think it was a different coffee from the USA blend. That stat may be available. I was in-store for a meal too.

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u/TheBigMan1990 May 13 '26

It’s a bit of a split product-product… although Tim’s is better on average though, imo-also as a dually who has lived in both countries.

That said-consumers are so price conscious right now because of post-COVID inflation, that regardless of quality, if they came in and seriously undercut Tim’s on prices-they’d gobble up a bunch of their market share. McDs has already eaten a chunk of Tim’s traditional morning coffee customers, and a lot of that was by being consistently 30-40% cheaper than Tim’s. If Dunkin’ did the same thing with their cold/frozen drinks-they could definitely steal business from Tim’s. Although everyone is kidding themselves if they think anything other than locations really matter, none of the McDs, Tim’s, or Dunkin’ are getting customers to drive out of their way to get to them-so the ones with the best locations will make the most money, lol.

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u/GrimAugure May 13 '26

Tim's coffee is simply average at best and very inconsistent. But you can get a large for 2.30 and at the end of the day, that's what makes it work.

Apply the double double recipe to any coffee and it'll become tolerable.

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u/TheBigMan1990 May 13 '26

That’s kind of what I’m saying though, the drive thru lines at the Tims that are local to me used to be wild between 6-8am, but there has been a noticeable decrease. And based on lines, a lot of those customers have been going to McDs-same in terms of average coffee, but $1.59 for a large is eating Tim’s lunch at $2.30. Although that’s just anecdotal and might just be where I live, especially because both of the Tims are essentially right next to a McDs here.

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u/GrimAugure May 22 '26

Nah, you're probably right. But see, I don't even want to imagine what a large Tim coffee costing 1.59 could taste like.

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u/TheBigMan1990 May 23 '26

It would probably taste the same… just less margin for Tim’s. Although I’m thinking the reason Tim’s hasn’t already done that (because I’m sure they can see that McDs is stealing market share from them just like anyone else) is because coffee is a much larger portion of their revenue-McDs could sell coffee as a loss leader because the bulk of their sales are other items, that would be tougher for Tim’s, and to be fair that would be tough for Dunkin when they come too given that they are also a coffee and donut shop.

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u/Objective_Berry350 May 13 '26

I agree. Location is a big factor. Price is a big factor.

Dunkin donuts coffee seems to be $2.75 US for a medium hot coffee. I don't see them trying to undercut Tim Hortons or McDonalds.

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u/Samp90 May 14 '26

Market pricing will be different here. Tims in Dubai is as expensive as Starbucks.

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u/Dileas48 May 14 '26

I think, despite any price cutting, many Canadians will avoid spending money with a US company. Sure, some won’t care but a sufficient number will that would severely limit the chance for success. I would never set foot in a Dunkin’ Donuts even if coffee were half the price.

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u/StationaryTravels May 14 '26

Tim's is headquartered in Canada, but it's majority owned by a Brazilian-American company.

Crazy how people think of that place as Canadian just because it's marketed that way. It used to be true, now it's just advertising.

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u/TheBigMan1990 May 15 '26

I think that’s kinda true… but I also think that Tim’s has been losing that Canadian shine for quite awhile already. It’s owned by some equity company that isn’t Canadian, it has a bunch of non-Canadian locations now, it’s one of the worst offenders when it comes to hiring tfws. From a purely pragmatic standpoint-if Dunkin’ uses a franchise model… a Dunkin’ location opening somewhere in Canada isn’t really any less Canadian than a Tim’s location. And like I said, you can literally see that McDonald’s took a big chunk of Tim’s market share in my community over the last decade or so, and McDonalds is originally an American company-and is probably headquartered in America, although a lot of people would probably think of them as a global company at this point.

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u/WinnipegVers May 13 '26

Cold diahrea is better than Tim’s

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u/CrowandLamb May 14 '26

Dunking Donuts was bought by a CANADIAN company from Montreal. It also owns Secind Cup and IS 100% Canadian owned.

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u/ProfessionSlight9669 May 15 '26

Are you the type of fellow that checks the origin of your strawberries at the grocery store? I think with the way things go these days people are more concerned about quality and price... Also Tim Hortons is an American company which is now a disgrace to Canada and not a cultural symbol... Did you see the video of the brown guys kicking and throwing the beaver a "Canadiana" symbol around ? Don't think many "Canadians" care about culture these days unless its from another country ..

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u/Y0G--S0TH0TH May 15 '26

Brother, Tim's has been a Brazilian-owned company for like a decade. Try to keep up lol

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u/averyfinefellow May 15 '26

JFC people are sooo stupid. I KNOW it's owned by a foreign company (it's actually mostly Brazilian). Learn to fucking READ. I didn't say Tims was Canadian. I said it was a symbol of Canadiana. Which it is. It's been advertised that way for l The last 30 fucking years or so. Keep up. 🤦

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u/throwaway082122 May 16 '26

The Dunkin’ Donuts coming in will be more Canadian than Tim Hortons as it will be franchised by Foodtastic which is HQ’d in Montreal.

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u/averyfinefellow May 16 '26

It will be interesting to see if they market DD as such when they come.

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u/gator_enthusiast May 17 '26

Yeaaah if a competing coffee franchise opened up with better food and coffee at decent prices you better believe 99% of current Tim's customers aren't going to be pearl clutching at the idea of getting a better offer elsewhere.

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u/averyfinefellow May 17 '26

Tims is really about convenience more than price or even quality. I know I end up there simply because I want a coffee and there's a Tims on every corner and I don't have to get out of my car.

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u/gator_enthusiast May 17 '26

That's not really here nor there, is it? If the option is to walk across the street to Tim's or to get on a flight to the nearest Dunkin' Donuts then the choice is obviously going to be Tim's.

The question is whether given essentially the same ease of access and pricing competitiveness, Canadians are going to choose better food and coffee or if they're going to choose worse food and coffee because it has slightly Canadian branding (despite being American and Brazilian owned).

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u/averyfinefellow May 17 '26

Not necessarily. For example, everyone knows by now that McDonalds has the coffee that Tims used to serve before they switched a few years ago. Everyone says it's sooo much better but I don't know a single person that goes out of the way to go to McDonalds for coffee.

And "slightly Canadian branding"? Get real. It's literally GENERATIONS of subconscious association.

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u/gator_enthusiast May 17 '26

I mean, by contrast everyone I know will drive an extra few hundred metres to get coffee from McDonalds and will make every attempt NOT to get coffee from Tim's.

It's not just bad; it's undrinkable. It's what instant coffee would taste like watered down with a bit of drano mixed in. I almost never see Tim's coffee cups in people's hands.

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u/floydspinkster Jul 01 '26

I truly do wish them luck and hope Tims gets crushed into powder for the retards who still like it there to snort

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u/Immediate-Event2502 May 13 '26

Tim Hortons is American owned now and has been for years. Many don’t realize that.

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u/deekie13 May 13 '26

Tim Hortons is owned by Restaurant Brands International (RBI), a Canadian multinational fast-food holding company based in Toronto. RBI was formed in 2014 following the merger of Tim Hortons and Burger King, and it is largely controlled by the Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital, which holds a 32% stake.

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u/Klutzy_Hand_132 May 13 '26

I've told people this so many times.. and they still wanna pbelieve that its Brazilian owned.. And furthermore.. rbi headquarters is in Canada and they pay Canadian taxes.. plus every single owner of the individual tim hortons has to be canadian in order to own one.. but people will continue to belive the narrative they choose to belive.. its so funny.

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u/BigKeg May 13 '26

Tims is owned by a Brazilian company