Order up, Tim Horton’s phasing out ‘extra small’

TORONTO- The Tim Hortons extra small cup is the next piece of old school Canadiana to get the phase-out treatment.

Every day it gets harder and harder to find them, though they are still readily available at several locations around the GTA.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the chain tells Global News:

“We are happy to report that more people are enjoying an extra few sips of our Tim Hortons coffee and as such we have been seeing less of a demand for our extra small 8oz cup. For that reason we are phasing out that cup over the next couple of months as our supplies diminish.”

In other words, no one is buying extra small hot drinks anymore.

By eliminating a slow-selling product, Tim’s is actually doing its bottom line some good.

The menu is more streamlined; there’s no need to manufacture extra small cups anymore; and every time you order a small coffee, it costs you 10 cents more than the extra small.

Marketing Analyst Dr. Brynn Winegard of Winegard & Company says the company’s aim is to save and earn more at the same time.

“To push consumers up into a higher volume bracket so that the amount of money they spend per visit increases and the volume of what they receive increases.”

A couple years ago, the eight-ounce cup was considered a small at Tim Hortons.

It became the “extra small” when they revamped their portion sizes in 2012. Simultaneously all other sizes were downgraded by one: the old medium became the new small, the old large became the new medium, etc.

If anything, the discontinued extra small cups have the potential to be collectors items some day.

Sharyl McPhee, owner of Pied-A-Terre Antiques in Toronto says the cups themselves hold no value; but if you keep one, you may be lucky enough to encounter a collector somewhere down the road willing to pay to get one.

The extra small cup is on its farewell tour. Once Tim Hortons shops run out of their current stock, they’re gone forever.