In late August, Tim Hortons announced that they were merging together with Burger King. The new company is said to have a combined global sales of $23 billion and 18,000 locations in 98 countries, becoming the world’s third largest fast-food company. 

                 Tim Hortons Merge with Burger King

Many Canadians dislike the idea of Tim Hortons, a Canadian brand, being bought by the American fast-food company. TIm Hortons is an iconic Canadian brand and many Canadians see this merger as an overtake of yet another Canadian brand by our American counterpart. Many Canadians would choose Tim Hortons over Starbucks and other coffee brands simply because it is a Canadian company, but after this merger, Tim Hortons will no longer be considered “Canadian” by many. Being a Canadian myself, I can understand why many people feel this way, although, in my opinion, I think that this reaction caused by the merge is completely ironic. This is due to the fact that Tim Hortons has already been bought by the American company, Wendy’s, in 1995.

I support this merge because I see this as an opportunity for Tim Hortons to expand their market internationally. Currently, Tim Hortons has 4,546 restaurants located in Canada while Burger King has 13,667 restaurants internationally.  With this merge, TIm Hortons is planning to open up 800 more stores by the end of 2018, with more than 300 stores in the States, where they have had difficulty gaining a foothold in the market previously.

Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tim-hortons-burger-king-agree-to-merger-deal-1.2746948

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tim-hortons-plans-800-more-restaurants-1.2550508