Tims Coffee Rebranded as "Tims Tianhao Coffee"!

For more professional coffee knowledge exchanges and coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, ID: qjcoffeex

Canadian National Coffee Brand Adopts Chinese Name to Deepen Market Presence

Nowadays, not only are Chinese domestic brands gradually using Chinese names, but even Canada's national coffee brand is adopting a Chinese name to deepen its presence in the Chinese market. This demonstrates the immense size of the Chinese market, with both brands wanting to protect their existing market share and foreign brands vying to expand their reach.

Recently, the official account of "Tims Coffee" was renamed to "Tims Tianhao Coffee." This marks the first time Tims Coffee has introduced a Chinese name since entering China. Although the official has not yet released any related information, according to China National Radio reports, Tims Coffee stated that introducing a Chinese name is for better localization and deepening their presence in the Chinese market, which will also facilitate their entry into lower-tier markets. This news will be officially announced at the end of this month or early next month.

Tim Hortons is Canada's national coffee brand, originating in 1964 when legendary hockey player Tim Horton opened the first Tim Hortons (Tims) restaurant in the small town of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Today, Tim Hortons has developed into a brand that sells over 2 billion cups of coffee globally each year.

In 2018, seeing the development prospects of China's coffee market, RBI, the parent company of the globally renowned coffee chain brand Tim Hortons, joined forces with Cartesian Capital to establish Tims China. In February 2019, the first store opened in Shanghai, officially entering the Chinese market. According to public reports, when Tims Hortons entered the Chinese market, the Tims team was completely localized. For ease of memory, the Chinese team came up with the name Tims.

Tims China's Strategic Growth and Market Positioning

In May 2020, Tims China received an investment of over 100 million RMB from Tencent. In February 2021, Tims China secured another round of financing, led by Sequoia China Fund, with Tencent increasing its investment. On September 29, 2022, Tims China went public on the NASDAQ through a SPAC approach.

Tims China has always shown significant differences from competitors in terms of product portfolio, price positioning, and store layout. In addition to coffee beverages, Tims China also launched warm food products such as bagels and sandwiches, which have been widely praised by consumers. In terms of price positioning, main products are concentrated in the 15-30 yuan price range, perfectly avoiding direct confrontation with Starbucks and Luckin Coffee.

According to Tims China's first financial report after going public, total revenue reached 306 million yuan in the three months ending September 30, 2022, a year-on-year increase of 67.9%. The net loss was 195 million yuan, with an adjusted net loss of 87.5 million yuan and a net loss rate of 28.6%.

However, in terms of store numbers, Tims opened 46 new stores in the third quarter, basically opening a new store every two days. According to statistics from Narrow Gate Restaurant Eye, as of December 2, Tims China had 520 stores. It is understood that when Tims China entered the Chinese market in 2019, they set a goal of "opening 1,500 stores in 10 years," meaning reaching 1,500 stores by 2029. But by August 2021, Tims China announced that their goal had changed to opening 2,750 stores by 2026.

Lu Yongchen, CEO of Tims Coffee China, explained: "The increase in store opening targets comes from the domestic market being large enough. For example, when Tims China first opened about 200 stores in Shanghai, we found there was still much room for growth. When we implemented our plans, we discovered huge demand, and store performance was excellent, exceeding our expectations."

From Tims Coffee's actions of increasing store opening targets, continuously accelerating their layout in the Chinese market, and now changing their official account from "Tims Coffee" to "Tims Tianhao Coffee," it's not difficult to see Tim Hortons' determination to deepen their presence in China's coffee market and expand into lower-tier markets.

Image source: Internet

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473