After serving 2.1 million customers more than three million cups of coffees and $18,000 a week of baked goods, Tim Hortons' wildly successful five-year run in Afghanistan is to end this fall.
"We are looking at closing up on Oct. 31 or sometime soon after that," said Colin Culligan, the manager of the Canadian Forces' coffee and doughnut franchise at Kandahar Airfield until his fourth tour of duty in this distant desert ended a few days ago.
"The equipment, including the ovens for the doughnuts and the coffeemaking machines, is all going home. The trailers they are housed in are public infrastructure. I understand that they are being purchased by the Americans."
By order of the House of Commons, all Canada's combat troops are to withdraw from Kandahar by the end of next month. Tim Hortons is leaving a little later so it can provide comfort food to the small army of Canadian logisticians who are to spend the next few months tearing down, cleaning and packing the staggering amounts of equipment accumulated here over the years.
Exporting Canada's favourite fastfood outlet to the far side of the world was the brainchild of Gen. Rick Hillier, the former chief of defence staff. The general saw it as "a way of enhancing morale, as a force multiplier," Culligan said.
While predictably popular with Canadians posted to Kandahar, foreign troops make up about two-thirds of Tim Hortons customers and generate about two-thirds of the revenue here. Canadians buy more coffee. The Americans and Brits prefer doughnuts.
Until now, 323 Canadian civilians have slung "double doubles" at Kandahar's Tim Hortons, each of them serving six months at a time. Many have wanted to return here but only a few were chosen to come back. Competition for the jobs -which pay about $20,000 per tour -has been so intense that from 3,000 applicants only 65 men and women are chosen for each rotation.
"Our employees tend to be very well educated," said Culligan, a longtime Cineplex employee who was hired by the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency in 2006 after spotting an online job advertisement for Tim Hortons in Kandahar.
"Some have been vice-presidents of small companies. Others have master's degrees. We do not just have young people but people with established careers. They are very easy to manage."
Seventy per cent of the CFPSA employees in Kandahar are women. Among the cardinal rules for those who work at Tim Hortons as well as the troops, is that there must be no fraternization, no drugs and no booze. Nevertheless, a social life of sorts has evolved at this dusty tent and trailer city of about 30,000 soldiers and civilians about 20 kilometres south of Kandahar City. Two Tim Hortons workers met and fell in love in Kandahar and are now married in Canada with two children. And a female worker at Tim Hortons married a soldier she met here.
One of the unique aspects of operating in a war zone is that Tim Hortons temporarily ceases operations whenever the Taliban launch a rocket attack. "We reopen 15 minutes after the all clear," Culligan said, adding "that is definitely not something that they do at any Tim Hortons in Canada."
Among the challenges is that supply orders must be placed eight weeks in advance. Between 12 and 14 weeks of dough and coffee are stored inside 26 sea containers at Kandahar Airfield. Five new ovens are kept in stock, in case one breaks down.
Convoys bringing supplies from Canada have sometimes been attacked in Pakistan. Another complication has been that Afghan customs have frequently delayed deliveries of pre-made doughnuts as well as coffee and cream for as much as a year. To circumvent this logjam, supplies were shipped by sea to Europe and then flown from there to Kandahar on military flights.
Troops get a lot of coffee and doughnuts for free. The Canadian Legion has donated close to $1 million in Tim Hortons gift cards. Similar donations have come from business groups, churches and schoolchildren.
"Our franchise does make money, although it doesn't show a profit," Culligan said. "All revenues go toward the morale and welfare of the troops for things such as Christmas parties and family gatherings. One-third of that is spent on the troops here, one-third to whichever base in Canada is supplying the bulk of the troops for a rotation, and one-third to the other bases at home."
Most people in Kandahar regard the Tim Hortons as a corporate store but the parent company sells the CFPSA inventory at cost. Tim Hortons has also contributed $80,000 to the Roll Up the Rim contest, which has awarded prizes of up to $5,000 to some NATO soldiers.
"Tim Hortons doesn't make a cent here, but my personal feeling is that it has got a lot of great PR from this," Culligan said. "They've done great things for us, so I am happy for them. This has been a chance for them to showcase their product for Americans."
Source http://www.vancouversun.com/
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