The moment Joyce assumed ownership control of Tim Hortons, he knew something had to change. His hockey star partner had a good idea in the coffee shop, but its success – or lack thereof – was speaking for itself. Joyce did everything he could to turn things around, from expanding the food menu to include sandwiches and altering the doughnut recipes, to adding iced cappuccinos to the drink list. But it was not until Joyce stumbled upon a unique business practice that the chain would begin to take off. The company’s new motto? “Always Fresh.”
Joyce wanted Tim Hortons to stand out from all the other coffee chains that he knew he was up against. To do that, Joyce implemented a new set of business practices that focused on keeping things “Always Fresh.” For Joyce, that was not going to be just a motto; his company was going to live and breathe “Fresh.”
To that end, Joyce began to insist that all Tim Hortons coffee pots be cleaned three times a day and that no coffee be older than twenty minutes from the time the brewer stops dripping. All grounds were also to be thrown out immediately afterwards. That way, no extra water would drip into the coffee. Joyce thought that insisting on these rules would allow the flavour of his coffee to be at its best.
Although coffee was still the cornerstone of Tim Hortons, Joyce wanted this freshness to be replicated throughout all of the store’s stock. The temperatures of all cheese products and sandwiches were to be checked every other hour, as with soups. Donuts were to have a shelf life of no more than eight hours and could also be made to order. Bagels and other breads were also to be sold for no more than eight hours after they were made, while cookies, danishes, and croissants could go up for twelve hours. Only enough cakes for a given day were to be baked in any one store.
Joyce’s principle was based on making less, more often. He wanted Tim Hortons customers to get the best products all the time. He wanted the chain to develop a strong reputation for high quality, to be a place where patrons knew they could always go for a fresh experience.
A few years after Joyce had left the business, a newspaper reporter discovered that Tim Hortons had actually begun using frozen dough for their doughnuts rather than making it fresh at each store in the mornings. Furious with the new management’s decision to pull away from his “Always Fresh” motto, Joyce publicly criticized the company. “The idea of using frozen products thoroughly disappointed me,” says Joyce. “It wouldn't be done in Tim Hortons restaurants if I still owned the company, even if, in the long run, it may have been the best way to operate the chain.”
Joyce understood that it was Tim Hortons’ reputation for freshness that kept customers coming back for more. And, there was no price that could be put on that.
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