Tim Hortons is officially jumping on the all-day breakfast bandwagon.
After piloting the concept across a dozen Ontario locations earlier this summer, the coffee and doughnut giant is rolling out the program at participating Tims across Canada beginning on Wednesday, July 25.
Breakfast items formerly only available until noon, like breakfast sandwiches and hash browns, will now be on the menu all day.
“The demand is loud and clear,” Tim Hortons president Alex Macedo told The Canadian Press in an interview in May. “Any time we bring up the idea of breakfast at any time, the response is very favourable and very strong.”
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The company’s announcement intensifies the competition to satisfy Canadians’ craving for breakfast food. McDonald’s and A&W began offering all-day breakfast in early 2017, while Taco Bell and Burger King have also upped the ante with breakfast offerings to compete with Tim Hortons, Starbucks and Country Style.
But perhaps in boldest encroaching on Tims’ turf was McDonald’s decision in early May to start serving bagels across the country.
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Canadians’ interest in breakfast has grown, as evidenced by research companies NPD Group and Nielsen, calling it the fastest-growing part of the day for restaurants since 2012.
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But Tim Hortons’ addition of an all-breakfast menu also comes as the company has publicly been struggling to fix its strained relationship with some franchisees, who have been sparring with the company in recent months over everything from cost-cutting measures made in the wake of Ontario’s minimum wage hikes to delays in supply deliveries to a $700-million renovation plan that they say will cost store owners $450,000 per restaurant.
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In addition to all-day breakfast, the company recently revealed it would also be looking to a kids menu, new packaging, kiosks, loyalty programs and delivery to entice customers and regain franchisee confidence, but Macedo said he wasn’t prepared to share more details on any of those plans yet.
“I don’t think there is one answer to driving brand love,” he said. “My only concern is to work with franchisees all over the country. … I think they are very willing to work with us to get the brand where we want it to be.”
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Ontario-based Tim Hortons franchise owner Aron Burch said in May that the months of tension between Tim Hortons and the franchisees, and the rise in the cost of living, had caused his stores to see “a little bit” of a decline in transactions in same-store sales, but he was confident that all-day breakfast would help them lure more customers.
– With files from the Canadian Press
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