Timothy's World Coffee (a.k.a. Timothy's) is a large

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

coffee roasting Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of Coffee processing, green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process produces the characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to change ...

company and

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

of coffeeshops.

Origin and background

Timothy's was founded in 1975 as a

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

er of premium roasted coffee beans by Timothy Snelgrove and his wife Teresa Snelgrove. The company was originated as a business-school project Snelgrove undertook while studying at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

. As the company expanded, it evolved its retail offering to include brewed

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

. The first Timothy's was opened in a mall in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

. Timothy's was purchased by Ian and Becky McKinnon in 1986 who further expanded retail locations and created a wholesale coffee division. Timothy's also became a roaster partner of

Keurig Keurig () is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The North American company Keurig Dr Pepper manufactures the machines. The main Keurig products are K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; an ...

and began producing single serve K-Cups for use in Keurig's line of single serve brewers. In 2008, Timothy's became an affiliated portfolio company of

Sun Capital Partners Sun Capital Partners, Inc., is an American private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts. Sun Capital was founded in 1995 by Marc J. Leder and Rodger Krouse, former classmates at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and ...

. On November 13, 2009, it was announced that Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. would acquire Timothy's wholesale business, while Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc. would purchase and continue to operate the retail business.Green Mountain buys Canadian licensee, ups outlook
Bruegger's would also acquire Timothy's partner restaurants, mmmuffins and Michel's Baguette, through a wholly owned subsidiary called ThreeCaf Brands Canada Inc. Timothy's produces its own coffee beans, roasting and producing multiple formats of coffee in its own plant. For this reason, the company offers a freshness guarantee and other supporting company policies. Since 2015 the Toronto roasting plant was closed and consolidated into the Van Houtte roasting plant in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Expansion into the United States

In the mid-1990s, Timothy's expanded into the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, concentrating in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Other stores were located in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. At one point, it was New York City's second-largest coffeehouse chain, after

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

in 2001, the company closed its US operations and the company re-focused on the Canadian market and wholesale business operation.

Expansion into South Korea

Timothy's opened its first overseas store in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, Republic of Korea (South Korea) on May 19, 2007.

Current business

Timothy's has since purchased the existing stores in Canada. It later acquired the mmmuffins and Michel's Baguette retail businesses. Today, the company operates some 30 Canadian stores under the Timothy's name. Timothy's also operates a

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

coffee business, supplies office coffee service companies, packages coffee in K-Cups for

home and office brewers, and has a distribution program in large chain hotels, grocery stores, sports clubs and similar venues. In February 2009, it named a brand of coffee the "Presidential No. 44" blend to celebrate a visit to Canada by U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

Bruegger's/Green Mountain acquisition

On November 13, 2009 Green Mountain Coffee Roasters acquired Timothy's wholesale business from Sun Capital Partners, Inc. for a cash purchase price of approximately $157 million, in U.S. dollars, subject to adjustment. Concurrently, Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc. acquired Timothy's retail operations for an undisclosed sum. Green Mountain acquired the Timothy's World Coffee wholesale business, but not their retail operations. Timothy's wholesale business will be maintained as a Canadian subsidiary, with operations integrated into Green Mountain's Specialty Coffee Business Unit. Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc., through a wholly owned subsidiary called ThreeCaf Brands Canada Inc., assumed control of Timothy's three restaurant brands: Timothy's World Coffee, mmmuffins and Michel's Baguette. Bruegger's intends to continue operations of all three brands.

MTY Food Group acquisition

In 2018,

MTY Food Group MTY Food Group Inc. is a Canadian franchisor and operator of numerous casual dining, fast casual, and quick service restaurants operating under more than 70 brand names, some of them through wholly owned subsidiaries. Headquartered in the Montr ...

acquired Timothy's World Coffee and Mmmuffins retail operations from Le Duff America.

References

External links

Timothy's World Coffee CanadaTimothy's World CoffeeTimothy's CafesTimothy's KoreaTimothy's Coffee Store
{{MTY Food Group Coffeehouses and cafés in Canada Coffee brands Restaurants established in 1975 Restaurant franchises 1975 establishments in Ontario Companies based in Toronto Restaurants in Toronto