Tim Hortons teams up with Alibaba to woo Chinese coffee drinkers
17/11/2022 12:30
BEIJING, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The operator of Canadian
coffee chain Tim Hortons in China said on Thursday it had forged
a two-year partnership with Alibaba Group's 9988.HK grocery
chain that will see the two launch co-branded products.
E-commerce giant Alibaba's Freshippo will begin sales next
month at its stores, of which it has more than 300, as well as
through its official app, it said in a statement. Products will
include drinks such as Velvet Cocoa Coffee.
Tims China THCH.O , whose backers include Tencent Holdings
0700.HK , opened its 500th outlet in China last month and has
set its sights on having a "profitable network" of 2,750 stores
in the country by 2026.
Even so it would still lag Starbucks SBUX.O , the dominant
foreign coffee brand in China with 6,000 stores and which also
has a wide-ranging partnership with Alibaba.
Tims China was founded in 2019 by Cartesian Capital Group
and Canada's Restaurant Brands International QSR.TO , which
also owns the Burger King and Popeyes brands in addition to Tim
Hortons.
(Reporting by Sophie Yu and Brenda Goh; Editing by Edwina
Gibbs)
((Sophie.Yu@thomsonreuters.com; 861056692136;))