(Yicai) Dec. 15 -- The tie-up between coffee chain Tims China and Chinese snacks retailer Bestore is aimed at dealing with the fierce competition in the country’s coffee shop market, Securities Times reported today.

Tims China will open small outlets called Tims Express in Bestore’s shops, according to an announcement yesterday from TH International, which owns the exclusive rights to Tim Hortons and Popeyes fried chicken in China.

The first Tims Express opened yesterday in Wuhan, Hubei province. The pair plan more and are choosing locations, with a second set to launch later this month in Xi’an, Shaanxi province and three more in Wuhan around year-end. 

Founded jointly by Tims Hortons’ parent company Restaurant Brands International, a Canadian-US holding company, and Cartesian Capital Group in 2018, Tims China opened its first cafe in Shanghai in 2019. 

It received investment worth hundreds of millions of yuan from Tencent Holdings in May 2020 and went public on Nasdaq in September last year. 

As of the end of this September, Wuhan-based Bestore ran more than 3,300 stores in 181 Chinese cities, and Tim Hortons had opened over 700 branches in 50 cities.

Bestore [SHA: 603719] inched 0.2 percent lower to close at CNY21.5 (USD3.03) a share in Shanghai today.

Editor: Tom Litting