Tim Hortons has just introduced a new line of iced latte drinks to its premium “Cafe Favorites” drink menu, furthering its effort to compete with the likes of Starbucks for a slice of the growing premium espresso drink market. With the new iced lattes starting at $2 per drink, the coffee chain is looking to offer consumers a slightly less expensive way to get a refreshing caffeinated boost this summer.
The new iced lattes follow the successful rollout of hot espresso drinks last fall, a move that instantly added a lot of depth to the Tim Hortons drink menu. The popular espresso drinks introduced last fall added to the 12.5% sales growth the coffee chain was able to post in 2011 and have factored into the strong sales projections posted for future quarters.
While Tim Hortons has had a wildly popular Iced Cappuccino on its menu for years now, the new cold espresso drinks should offer customers looking for less calories a great alternative to some of the previously offered items on their summer menu.
The following iced latte selections are now available at Tim Hortons locations:
- Regular Iced Latte
- Flavored Iced Latte (caramel, vanilla, hazelnut or mint chocolate)
- Iced Mocha Latte (cocoa, whipped cream topping, and chocolate syrup)
- Iced Latte Supreme (shot of either caramel, vanilla, hazelnut or mint chocolate, topped with whipped cream topping and chocolate syrup)
Tim Hortons has been evolving its drink menu for the last few years in an effort to compete with Starbucks and to fend off efforts by McDonald’s to cut into their breakfast and coffee sales in Canada and the United States. The rollout of McDonald’s “McCafe” drink menu was seen by investors as huge potential issue for Tim Hortons specifically as McDonald’s tried to steal away part of the nearly two billion cups of coffee that Tim Hortons serves per year.
Foodbeat’s Take: So far, Tim Hortons has been able to do amazingly well despite the stiff competition from Starbucks and McDonald’s, and this story highlights part of the reason why. Tim Hortons’ stock price has nearly doubled since 2009 and is showing no signs of slowing down as strong sales and healthy revenue projections for the future continue to keep investors happy. The addition of these iced latte beverages will give customers another reason to stop by Tim Hortons rather than the competition, so this is a great move. We will post our review of the beverages once we have had a chance to try them!
