We have settled well in Korea's fiercely competitive cafe market, but there is much to improve on whether we have fully satisfied consumers.
Ahn Tae-yeol, chief business officer (CBO) of BKR, which operates Tim Hortons, assessed the brand's performance in Korea since its launch on the 28th.
Tim Hortons held a "2026 Tim Hortons New Year Warm-Up" press conference on the morning of the 28th at its Sinnonhyeon Station store in Seoul and shared the core business strategy for its second phase of management. The event was conducted in a talk show format, with CBO Ahn directly explaining the brand's present and future direction.
Canadian coffee house Tim Hortons marked its third year in Korea by declaring 2026 the first year of its "second phase of management." It unveiled a blueprint to lead innovation in the global market through local menus and spatial innovation tailored to the high standards of Korean consumers.
Tim Hortons is a brand that represents Canadian coffee. Founded in Canada in 1964, it operates about 6,000 stores in 19 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Dubai. It first entered the Korean market in Dec. 2023 and is currently operating 25 stores, starting with Sinnonhyeon Station and followed by Seolleung Station, Bundang Seohyeon, Yeouido TP, Seoul City Hall, Sangam DMC and One Grove.
BKR, which operates the Burger King hamburger franchise and Tim Hortons, posted sales of 792.7 billion won in 2024, up 6.4% from a year earlier. Operating profit rose 60.4% to 38.4 billion won. At the time, BKR cited Tim Hortons' successful settlement in the Korean market as a driver of the results.
CBO Ahn defined the process since the Korea launch as the "first phase of management" to establish global standards, and said the company will enter a more advanced second phase to meet the discernment of Korean customers. He said, "It is true that the buzz has faded compared with the early days when people lined up at opening," adding, "Tim Hortons intends to focus less on buzz and more on building essential, intrinsic value."
As the most critical change in the second phase, it pointed to strengthening quality based on menu diversification and freshness. Tim Hortons plans to pursue innovative menu development so Korea can serve as a "global innovation hub."
On the direction of menu changes, it said, "We will broaden menu variety for localization to suit trend-sensitive Korean customers, expand bakery and dessert items, and widen choices to the food category," adding, "We hope to become an alternative brand through menus that can offer customers a fresh experience."
In particular, it explained that through "Tims Kitchen," which bakes and cooks directly in-store, it will secure freshness and high quality rarely seen in large franchises.
It will also introduce a "vintage Canada" concept that modernly reinterprets the brand's 60-year history and heritage and apply it to store design. Tim Hortons said the aim is to move beyond the existing North American model that emphasized practicality and offer the value of a spatial experience imbued with Canadian originality. Starting with the Hanam Misa store that opened last month, Tim Hortons said it will aggressively expand application to future new stores and will also operate a flagship store.
The store expansion strategy to grow in the domestic market will also accelerate. CBO Ahn defined the next two years as an acceleration phase to improve the completeness of localization and said the company plans to double the number of stores to 50 by the end of 2026 to expand dominance in Seoul's key commercial districts. It will add about 100 more locations to achieve a mid- to long-term goal of 150 stores within five years.
CBO Ahn Tae-yeol said, "The results we have achieved over the past two years confirm not only that Tim Hortons has settled in Korea, but also that Tim Hortons Korea can propose the direction of innovation for the future global Tim Hortons," adding, "The second phase of management will be a period of evolution in which the global market pays more attention to Korea based on these efforts."
In the Q&A that followed, regarding franchise operations, it said, "All stores currently in operation are company-owned, and we said we are targeting 50 stores this year; those 50 stores will also be operated solely as company-owned locations," adding, "For now, we judged that rather than attracting franchisees, it is more important to create a perfect success model at company-owned stores and build a system to operate them well."