Tim Hortons to test the speciality sector

Tim Hortons are doing a Starbucks.

The Canadian giants of the coffee shop world have announced that they are going to try and get a foothold in the speciality sector by introducing a brand new range of coffee entitled the Tim Hortons Limited Batch Portfolio.

It is certainly a bold step for a company who has seemingly gone all crazy about new coffees all of a sudden. Last year, Tim Hortons introduced an original Dark Roast blend to their portfolio, the first addition in nearly five decades.

According to company officials, that decision was made because of the ‘expanding interests’ of their patrons – and so too was this one.

“A growing number of our guests have appetites for discovery and variety, and see coffee as an affordable adventure,” said company President and COO David Clanachan in a statement last week.

“With the high successful launch of Dark Roast last year – over a million cups served since it launched – it’s evident [that] Canadians are interested in trying new coffee blends from Tim Hortons.”

Unfortunately for connoisseurs, the coffees will only be available in certain cities whilst the entire range undergoes a period of mass customer feedback. One Sumatran blend is set to be trialled in Vancouver for six weeks whilst London gets to try out their Colombian Three Peaks blend. The lucky so-and-sos.

It will be interesting to see how this new Limited Batch collection performs over the next couple of weeks and months, especially in relation to Starbucks (and their Reserve Roastery line) who seem to be pushing their customers towards a better quality of bean.

But, unlike their Seattle counterparts, we don’t think that Tim Hortons will be entering the Cup of Excellence markets and blowing everybody out of the water.

But give it time…