How does the Starbucks China bagel launch affect Tims?
Starbucks plans to launch a four-item bagel series in its China stores in early July, priced at roughly 18 to 26 yuan, entering a category Tims has built around its bagel and coffee pairing. Tims has cultivated that combination for years and holds a first-mover advantage with a loyal base, so the question is whether Starbucks' scale and reach will shift the market.
Bagels have become a common coffee pairing, and chains including Tims, Peet's and Seesaw have added them to menus. Starbucks offered a bagel item briefly in 2017 as a breakfast option and has since launched bagels in South Korea and Japan with positive feedback. Its new filled bagel sandwiches are pitched across more dayparts rather than breakfast alone.
With its unique chewiness and versatility, the bagel has rapidly become a hot item in coffee consumption scenarios in recent years. Starbucks plans to launch a four-item bagel series in its China stores in early July, priced at around 18 to 26 yuan, formally joining the competition in this category. Tims, meanwhile, has been cultivating the "bagel + coffee" combination for years, enjoying a first-mover advantage and a solid fan base. Will Starbucks' entry this time shake Tims' position in China's bagel market? This article analyzes from the perspectives of product strategy, pricing, and consumption scenarios.
In recent years, bagels have won over more and more consumers with their distinctive chew and rich flavors, gradually becoming a new pairing for coffee drinks. Chain brands such as Tims, Peet's, and Seesaw have all added bagels to their menus, among which Tims, positioned around "warm food + coffee," successfully broke out of its niche with the help of bagels and accumulated a large number of loyal customers.
According to a recent report by Foodaily, Starbucks has also set its sights on the potential of China's bagel market and plans to officially launch a bagel series in early July. Bagels themselves have a mild taste and are very suitable for combining with various ingredients and sauces into sandwiches, so Starbucks will fill its bagels with different stuffings this time, launching four bagel products with distinct flavors for consumers to choose from.
Public information shows that Starbucks briefly offered "焙果" (that is, Bagel) in 2017, emphasizing at the time that it could serve as a breakfast option paired with coffee. More recently, Starbucks launched bagels in markets such as South Korea and Japan and received positive feedback from local consumers, which may have prompted its decision to bring bagels to its stores in China.
Unlike before, Starbucks did not specifically highlight the breakfast attribute of bagels this time, especially the filling-rich Thick Egg & Vegetable Cheese Bagel Sandwich and the Scallion Bacon Bagel Sandwich, which are expected to cover a broader range of consumption times and scenarios. In terms of price, according to information circulating on social media, Starbucks' bagel products are expected to be priced between 18 yuan and 26 yuan.
Starbucks' customer base has high expectations for this bagel launch. Some customers said they had tried Starbucks bagels in other regions and were favorably impressed. If domestic stores launch them at the same time, it would not only allow them to relive a familiar taste close to home but also add a new breakfast option.
It is said that bagels have continued to rise in popularity from 2019 to now, with content such as "bagel reviews" and "bagel recipes" shared by netizens frequently appearing on social platforms, making them a highly popular baked item among young consumers. From this perspective, it is only reasonable that Starbucks would add this highly popular baked category to its menu and launch a series of products.
However, when talking about the "bagel + coffee" combination in the Chinese market, one cannot avoid mentioning Tims, which is deeply tied to bagels. Since entering China, bagels have always been Tims' flagship star product, and customers can choose a bagel for breakfast according to their personal preferences.
Judging from Tims' publicly disclosed financial reports, bagel sales have always been an important part of offline store revenue, which has also given Tims the confidence to continue investing in the bagel category, such as launching more bagels that cater to market tastes and lowering combo meal prices, promoting "bagel + coffee" onto coffee lovers' tables and replacing the traditional youtiao with soy milk.
It can be said that by promoting bagels in the Chinese market earlier, cultivating them deeply, and developing products that suit Chinese consumers' tastes, Tims has already built its own fan base and formed a first-mover advantage. In terms of price, Tims' bagel products are generally slightly lower than Starbucks' pricing, so in the face of Starbucks joining the bagel race, Tims still appears to have plenty of room to maneuver.
However, some "bagel heads" said that if the quality of Starbucks' bagel products is not inferior to Tims', they might consider switching to become Starbucks fans. After all, when it comes to the quality of coffee as a "bagel companion," in the minds of some consumers, Starbucks still comes out ahead.
Image source: Internet
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
