Tim Hortons teams up with Alibaba to court Chinese coffee drinkers

userNovember 21, 2022

The Chinese operator of Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons said Thursday that it has entered into a two-year partnership with grocery chain Alibaba Group that will see the two companies launch joint products.

Freshippo will start selling next month in its more than 300 stores, as well as through its official app, it said in a statement. Products will include drinks such as Velvet Cocoa Coffee.

Tims China, backed by Tencent Holdings, opened its 500th outlet in China last month and aims to build a “profitable chain” of 2,750 stores in the country by 2026.

Even so, it will still lag behind Starbucks, the dominant foreign coffee brand in China with 6,000 stores, which also has extensive partnerships with Alibaba.

Tims China was founded in 2019 by Cartesian Capital Group and Canadian Restaurant Brands International, which owns the Burger King and Popeyes brands in addition to Tim Hortons.

https://www.retailnews.asia/tim-hortons-teams-up-with-alibaba-to-woo-chinese-coffee-drinkers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tim-hortons-teams-up-with-alibaba-to-woo-chinese-coffee-drinkers Tim Hortons teams up with Alibaba to court Chinese coffee drinkers