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| By Kirsten Srinivasan | |
| Friday, 13 May 2005 | |
 Quality, freshness and environmental, social and economic responsibility set Timothy’s Coffees of the World Inc. and its three brands apart from the rest. In all, Timothy’s Coffees of the World runs about 230 retail stores in Canada. Approximately 140 are Timothy’s World Coffee Stores, which offer specialty coffee. About 80 Marvelous Mmmuffins stores offer fresh baked goods in a small format, specializing in muffins. Michel’s Baguette stores account for about a dozen locations. “All three brands are in the business of selling coffee and bakery products but in different proportions, so for us, the synergies are strong and they fit very well together,” McKinnon states. “All three brands are all focused on the very highest-quality ingredients. All are producing fresh products, whether it’s Timothy’s World Coffee, Mmmuffins or Michel’s Baguette.” Many companies have shifted away from fresh products, she notes, but this isn’t the case with Timothy’s brands. “The tendency, because it’s more efficient, is to do a lot of frozen and prebaked products,” she says. “Our stores – certainly our muffin stores – are making products from scratch using whole eggs, not substitutes. We are baking onsite. The customers can see it coming out of the oven and are aware of the freshness of the product. I feel those are the ways we distinguish our company.” The company’s 35,000-square-foot roasting facility in Toronto produces coffee for its retail brands and the company’s “very significant” wholesale business, McKinnon explains. Only the top 5 percent of any Arabica bean harvest meets its strict quality standards, the company states. Within 20 days of roasting, coffee beans are shipped, and brewed or sold. Half of the company’s wholesale coffee business comes from the United States. All Mmmuffins stores make muffins from scratch onsite. Other products are made in the company’s commissary. In the bakery category, Mmmuffins and Michel’s Baguette are unique in Canada, she notes. “There are similar companies but no one’s doing exactly what we are doing, particularly with Michel’s Baguette,” she says. “There is some development in the United States, but nothing strong other than independents in that category here [in Canada], so we are very excited about its growth potential. We feel the bakery café is a very appealing product for customers. The menu allows more creativity than traditional fast food does. The components feel healthier and more upscale. We see very good growth potential. Really, in Canada, there are no boundaries in that exact category.” In regard to Mmmuffins, McKinnon says very few concepts in Canada “focus on quality in the same way and bake onsite. We are very excited about the unique position of the brand.” Timothy’s World Coffee faces a more crowded category in Canada and the United States, McKinnon notes. “We feel our quality focus sets us apart, but we need to communicate and educate our customers about the importance of freshness and quality,” she says. “It’s more important in that category. In bakery, to be at it’s best it should be fresh. People understand, but with coffee, people don’t think of it as a product that deteriorates as it gains time from roasting. So our marketing program for coffee focuses on trying to educate the customer about that.” When Timothy’s started 30 years ago, it was a retail store selling coffee beans, makers and accessories, but not substantially a café, she explains. “It changed as the market has changed and consumer needs have changed,” she says. “Consumers now are time pressed and want a good product made for them.” About 90 percent of the company’s stores are owned and operated by franchise operators, which also helps it grow. “It’s important in enabling us to become part of local communities,” McKinnon notes. “It’s another way to distinguish us in a crowded coffee category and bakery category. In addition, we have some corporate stores and we are trying to focus on external contacts in the business and marketing program and coffee products.” McKinnon is directly involved in the company’s coffee buying. Before speaking with Food and Drink, she was about to leave for Honduras to select the best coffee as part of an international jury. The company has in-house coffee expertise, she emphasizes. Its coffee buyer and quality control representatives are accredited expert cuppers. The company has the “skill and experience to find the best ingredients, but it doesn’t stop there,” she says. “How you roast coffee is key to bringing out the best in coffee. You have to ensure it’s still fresh from the roaster so the customer gets to experience the benefits.” Roasting Responsibly Good coffee starts in the communities it grows in, McKinnon adds. The company has developed significant relationships with these communities, she notes. “We’ve been around since 1975,” she says. “We develop relationships with coffee growers that grow the best coffee. We make contributions back to their communities. We have a coffee we buy from a native community in Colombia where we’ve helped add classrooms in schools and provide educational materials. We have made a significant impact in that community. We’ve also discovered some fair trade coffees that are wonderful. “We’ve seen an explosion in the espresso side of business, and espresso-based drinks. That was a product confined to restaurants a decade ago. Now, it’s a standard beverage in specialty coffee stores. To tap into that trend we launched a new line of espresso drinks and searched out what we felt was the best coffee for espresso.” The company recently re-released LatteBene, which is sourced from a Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee farm in Brazil. The Rainforest Alliance helps ensure coffee beans are “grown and harvested responsibly according to rigorous social and environmental standards that conserve forests and wildlife, and safeguard farmers and their families,” the company explains. “One of the things I love about the Rainforest Alliance is it covers a lot of ground in terms of benefits,” she says. “Not only with an approach to the environment, but also with regard to economic and social components of coffee growing on the farm. What’s more important for us is Rainforest Alliance ensures a quality evaluation of coffee. For us, our real commitment to the customer is to offer the best-quality coffee. “The environmental, social, economic and quality impact is like getting four certifications in one. We are very excited about being teamed up with Rainforest Alliance for our new espresso blend. We are very impressed with the quality focus of the grower. The coffee farm in Brazil shares our fanatical focus on making quality ever better, keeping working on it and never feeling satisfied.” Timothy’s has also partnered with York University in Toronto to identify the best-quality coffee adjacent to the Las Nubes conservation area in Costa Rica. For every pound of Las Nubes coffee sold in its stores, the company donates a dollar to the Fisher Fund for Neotropical Conservation run by York University. Timothy’s charitable involvement with coffee-growing communities “is important, not just because it’s the right thing to do,” she says, but also because it helps the community produce the best coffee. “Where the community has the financial wherewithal, the growers are able to produce better coffee,” McKinnon states. “The cycle of commercial relationships becomes stronger. As partners, we are able to offer our customers better quality. For us, it’s an equation that makes sense.” Working with York University “is an exciting development for us,” she says. “I think these kinds of projects help us to help our customers understand coffee as a product. It helps our customers feel they are making a positive contribution to other parts of world when they buy coffee from us.” In April 2005, Timothy’s and York University were recognized by the Specialty Coffee Association of America with its annual Sustainability Award. The York-Timothy’s partnership has also been recognized among universities in North America for its creative fund raising and contribution to sustainability. McKinnon says more customers are interested in coffee products that benefit the communities and environments where the beans are grown. “We had a huge response to our launch with York University,” she says. “We thought it would take longer for people to figure it out.” The environmental endorsement from York University was well received by alumni, she notes. “People want to know their purchases have positive benefits for the people who produce them,” McKinnon states. In the future, the company plans for continued growth. “We see continued development for Timothy’s World Coffee,” she says. “We feel there is still room to grow in our retail channels. Although, we are very cautious about locations. We recognize there are a lot of coffee cafes out there. We want to make sure every one of our stores is successful. We see our bakery concepts growing more rapidly at this point. Bakery doesn’t have the same kind of category competition that coffee has. We are considering a more aggressive rollout of Michel’s Baguette. We see continued growth of wholesale coffee. We are looking for ways to develop our wholesale channel for bakery, as well. It’s only a small part of our business now.” |
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