Tim Hortons stops refilling reusable cups due to COVID-19
MARCH 6, 2020 – Statement from Tim Hortons – As Canada’s leading restaurant brand, we take our responsibility to our guests, restaurant owners and their team members very seriously. We are closely following developments on COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and are regularly taking advice on health and safety from public health officials and our own internal and external quality assurance and safety specialists. Although experts continue to indicate a low risk in Canada, we are taking a measured, reasonable approach and will continue to monitor, evaluate and update our procedures should it become warranted.
Tim Hortons stops refilling reusable cups
Though health officials have not recommended any changes to current procedures, after listening to our restaurant owners and comments from our guests, we are going to pause on accepting reusable cups at this time. We are continuing to reinforce proper health and sanitization procedures at restaurants and our supply chain is sourcing extra gloves, hand sanitization gel and other essential cleaning materials should we need them in the coming months.
New to this year’s Roll Up the Rim contest was a strong push on sustainability and reusability. All of our marketing materials and contest details have highlighted this new component. We are delaying the distribution of the 1.8 million reusable cups that were planned to be given away on March 10 until later this year. For any guest that brings a reusable cup to our restaurants and purchases a hot beverage scanning their Tims Rewards card or app, we will honour the three digital rolls described in our campaign, however, the guest will be provided their beverage in a recyclable paper cup.
As the COVID-19 situation evolves, we will continue to be prudent and never compromise on doing the right thing for our guests, team members and the communities we live and work in. As information and guidance from public health officials changes, we will reassess and change our procedures and protocols accordingly.
