– by Steve Sheppard –
Around the coffee brewer this past month the talk has been much about how “Tim’s” sold out to a U.S. fast-food burger company for $12 BILLION dollars, but are you really surprised? If you are a lover of Tim’s I suggest you turn the page or cover your ears (kidding). This article is not going to be a pro-Timmy’s piece.
Scott Feschuk, a writer for MACLEAN’s, recently wrote a great article (true depiction in fact) on Tim Horton’s and I agree with him on everything except one thing and that is: What the true institution of coffee is in Canada.
What Scott left out was the “why” Tim’s was bought, and the answer is simple: the large fast-food burger company wanted to entice people in with coffee, so they could sell people more fat, salt and sugar. Why else spend $12 billion?
The true institution of coffee in Canada is not Tim Horton’s … the true institution of coffee is the ceremony of having coffee with friends; a coffee upon waking each morning; it’s coffee mid-day when you need a few quite moments; it’s coffee as a warm dependable friend. The true institution of coffee is found in local, independently owned coffee houses all across the country. Locally-owned coffee houses typically serve a good cup; in fact, consumer’s expectations continue to rise and most coffee houses and cafes have been forced to “up” their coffee game over the past 10 years. Most of you know my feelings on small local micro-roasters, but at the end of the day, I am a big fan of locally owned coffee houses … not U.S. operations. A side note here: most of the franchisees of Tim Horton’s didn’t know the sale to a fast-food burger company was being considered, but now their franchise fees are going south of the border, which is never a good thing.
My suggestion is this: think double-doubly long and hard where you spend your coffee dollar and don’t for one moment think McCafé is a better option; it’s NOT. Think local, think small coffee house, think about how your coffee dollar can stay in the community if you make a little effort to buy local. P.S: buying local is not a new concept, and it works wonders!
There is now an opportunity to take your daily coffee dollar and spend it differently, because every time you now go to Tim’s, you are simply sending your money to the U.S. The true institution of Canadian coffee is all about meeting with friends to enjoy conversation. Make sure you give a local coffee house owner a chance … Steve out.
