Every time I go to Canada, it never ceases to amaze how different North American society is to European society. What cannot be overstated is that everything in the former revolves around the automobile. Whilst we are quick to point out how the Americans are wholly dependent upon their cars, and are unwilling to embrace any kind of environmentalist or ethical agenda if it entails an abandonment of their SUVs, make no mistake: the Canadians are just as bad.
In Canada, things not only revolve around the car but also develop around it, which has enormous implications for policy. There are numerous drive-through facilities surfacing everywhere, selling all sorts of food. Let us provide an extended analysis of this phenomenon by looking briefly at the coffee shop, specifically Tim Horton’s, Canada’s flagship coffee franchise. This is by no means tasty coffee. In fact, the stuff tastes more like Middle Eastern Crude than coffee. Nor is it by any means ethically-sourced: obtained from the subsistence producer, who is given a fair price for his/her coffee.
It is rather trucker’s coffee. Virtually every Tim Horton’s has a drive-through, designed to cater to the driving society. Whereas in Britain, every coffee shop has some reference to Fair Trade or ethical coffee, in Canada, there is no such reference anywhere at Tim Horton’s. Why? Because there is no need: it does not matter what you serve at the drive-through, as long as it is served at the drive-through. Canada, like the US, does not have a café culture, which could explain why 5 percent of Starbucks franchises in the latter have closed in the past year. The Starbucks that actually earn profits in North America are the franchises that are stationed in places where people will always be: airports, train stations and tourist centres. In Canada, nobody is going to drive to a Starbucks, or a Café Nero equivalent, or a Costa equivalent, because no one is going to drive to these places to get a coffee. Nor, unlike Europe, is anyone going to make a point of buying ethically-sourced coffee, hence the lack of change on the Tim Horton’s coffee menu.
Someone recently asked me the other day how you could get more Canadians to get off their seats and buy ethically-sourced jewelry such as Fair trade gold and ethical diamonds, the demand for which is growing exponentially in consumer circles. My solution: make it available on the Tim Horton’s drive-through menu.
