Quote:
Originally Posted by manny_santos
I think that varies by region in both the US and Canada. There’s no Dunkin on the US west coast, and Tim Hortons is far less predominant in BC than in other provinces. Starbucks rules the roost in the three west coast states and at least prior to 2021 was ubiquitous in the Vancouver area; New Westminster alone had at least 8 locations, and only two Tim Hortons. A lot more independent coffee shops in the four states/provinces than I’m used to out east.
BC, Washington, Oregon, and to some extent California take good coffee pretty seriously. Two of the best coffee shops I’ve been to were in Portland.
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When I was in Brisbane, this Australian lady bragged about how their coffee was so much better than ours and told me how I was in for a treat. When she watched me drink it, I had to break it to her that it was exact same product we get at cafes in Canada. She had tried gas station/doughnut shop coffee and assumed it was the only kind Canadians drank.
Comparing gas station/doughnut shop coffee to coffee from a cafe doesn't make sense. They're almost separate products. The first is mass market filter coffee that costs $1.50 to $2.50 while the latter is higher quality drip coffee that costs $3.00 to $4.00. And it's not like the lower price point filter coffee isn't a thing in Australia. Every gas station/corner store in Brisbane seemed to sell it.
Tim Hortons will likely succeed internationally for the same reason low end burger places like McDonald's succeed. Marketing muscle + brand familiarity + low price points. Let's face it, McDonald's is one of the worst burgers out there but it doesn't seem to matter.
Can we still call Starbucks a cafe? If Starbucks just sold regular cafe items like coffee and baked goods, they'd have gone out of business decades ago. People go there for their coffee infused liquid desserts. They're a dessert place like Baskin-Robbins. Nicer than Baskin-Robbins, but a dessert place nonetheless.
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