The iconic Canadian-owned business is now just part of a much larger portfolio. RBI needs to appreciate the intimate connection shops have with communities
Tim Hortons is slowly becoming a completely dysfunctional franchise system. Franchisees on both sides of the border are pressuring Restaurant Brands International Inc. (RBI), the new owners of coffee giant, to ease up on its increasingly strict rules around standards, pricing and inspections. Some franchisees have even called RBI’s approach abusive. And some are pursuing…
Proposed restrictions on food and beverage advertising to kids should include youth up to age 16. We need to give healthy eating habits a fighting chance
We shield our children and young teenagers from many things: overt portrayals of sex and violence on TV and in movies, drinking alcohol, smoking, owning guns and signing contracts, to name a few. The reasons are sound: we hope to keep our youth from physical and psychological harm, prevent them from falling into bad habits…
Consumers increasingly want fresh, unprocessed food. The middle of the store now sees less traffic and that’s clearly affecting sales for most grocery products
Skippy peanut butter and Dad’s chocolate chip cookies are gone from the Canadian marketplace. If you feel sad about seeing these iconic brands go, brace yourselves. It’s just the beginning. Within days, two major U.S.-based food multinationals pulled well-known brands from the Canadian market. Mondelez International discontinued the iconic Dad’s cookies and Hormel Foods pulled Skippy peanut…
The big challenge is convincing Canadians to be courageous enough to take off the blinkers that have so effectively sidelined them to date
Most everyone is familiar with the Trojan Horse tale. Can Canada's oil and gas sector learn something from the ancient Greeks? Perhaps. Think Trojan Rig. Here's the one-minute refresher: The Greeks had been laying siege, rather fruitlessly, to the the city of Troy. Frustrated after a decade, they built a massive wooden horse and left…
Same-store Canadian sales are up 8 per cent – higher than in any other country in which Costco operates. And the future looks even brighter
Unless you’re there on a Saturday, constantly trying to avoid collisions with oversized shopping carts, you probably like Costco, even though it will cost you more to shop there as of June. The basic membership fee is going up by $5 to $60, while premium folks will have to pay $120, up from $110. Paying to spend is…
The Tim Hortons campaign has been so successful the company’s new owners are sticking with it
In its 31st year, Tim Hortons' RRRoll Up the Rim to Win still attracts more business and more attention than any other campaign in the Canadian food industry. It's one of the few campaigns that transcends generations. And people have even attempted to steal boxes of Tim Hortons cups just to get their hands on a prize. The campaign is a…
As Canadian farmers prepare to harvest a bumper crop, our chief trading partner raises new concerns about its quality
A very Canadian crop is at the heart of a crucial trade dispute. Although most thought Canada’s relations with China would get easier with a new regime in Ottawa, things are becoming complicated again. Some Canadian farmers are edgy and for good reasons. China is threatening to buy canola elsewhere if Canada is unwilling to…
An interesting idea to encourage children to get in shape in the wake of the Olympics completely backfired for the fast-food giant
Despite the wonderful athletic performances at the Olympics – including Canada's many medals – the big winner in Rio was certainly the International Olympic Committee (IOC), through its mega sponsorship deals. Over the years, well-known companies such as Coke and Kellogg’s have poured millions into the IOC. But the biggest name in food at the…
People living alone make up more than a quarter of Canadian homes and that has wide-ranging implications for the food and beverage industry
Singles represent one of the fastest-growing demographics in Canada but the food industry is slow to serve up a focused strategy. There has been a significant effort to capture the millennial market in recent years. And single-person households and millennial needs overlap. But how these markets are developed is very different. And despite compelling research in…
Guelph University's compostable single-serve coffee pod offer a convenient food option without clogging up our landfills
Canadians love their coffee but the rise of single-serve brewers has created an environmental headache: What to do with used coffee pods? More than 91 per cent of Canadian adults drink some coffee, at home or elsewhere, every day. Not surprisingly, single-serve coffee has emerged as a significant consumer growth market. About 27 per cent of homes…
Tim Hortons is slowly becoming a completely dysfunctional franchise system. Franchisees on both sides of the border are pressuring Restaurant Brands International Inc. (RBI), the new owners of coffee giant, to ease up on its increasingly strict rules around standards, pricing and inspections. Some franchisees have even called RBI’s approach abusive. And some are pursuing…
