Tim Hortons to enter China with 1,500 new restaurants

Leading Canadian quick-service restaurant chain Tim Hortons has revealed that it will be expanding its operations into the Chinese market, launching 1,500 new restaurants across the country over the course of the next 10 years.

The 1,500 new locations stand as a significant expansion plan for the company, set to raise its total current number of restaurants by almost a third upon completion of the initiative.

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“We have two main priorities at Tim Hortons: Building and strengthening our brand in Canada; and expanding our iconic Canadian brand to the rest of the world,” said Tim Hortons President Alex Macedo.

“We have already seen Canada’s Chinese community embrace Tim Hortons and we now have the opportunity to bring the best of our Canadian brand to China with established partners who have expertise in the industry and the country.”

The move will see Tim Hortons partnering up with private equity firm Cartesian Capital group in delivering the expansion plan, a firm that Tim Hortons’ parent company Restaurant Brands has worked with previously to bring more than 900 Burger King outlets to China.

“Tim Hortons has a long, rich history of providing guests with quality food and premium coffee,” said Peter Yu, Managing Partner of Cartesian. “We plan to expand that tradition to China, drawing on 20 years of experience building businesses in China and around the world.”

The Chinese expansion, combined with Tim Hortons’ recently announced $700mn restaurant renovation plan, will likely serve to bolster the company’s reputation that has continued to fall in recent times.