Boston Cream

I was eating a Boston Cream donut at Tim Horton's and it was ok. Adequate. Not really the best donut. It's sweet and a little crunchy around the side.

Krispy Kreme is much better. They are soft and warm.

I am salivating as I write. Then I started thinking. It wasn't too long ago when Krispy Kreme announced they were entering the Canadian market. It was like an 800-lbs gorilla jumped into the donut room. Everybody thought that Tim's was in trouble.

It just didn't happened. Tim has expanded since then to include warm breakfasts, espressos, and even accepts limited credit card payments. They are on a roll. Krispy Kreme ... well, I am not sure where they're at right now. (But Google Financial does! KKD:NYSE is sitting at $3.16, down 2% from yesterday. For course, they used to be at almost $50 five years ago.) I think they still have one store near the airport.

Funny thing is that Krispy Kreme has a much better donut. They probably also have a lower cost per unit. (I am assuming, but those Tim Horton factory bakery are pretty efficient too.)

But I guess it is a matter of synergy. A good combination of products and services. Krispy Kreme makes a good donut, but you can't really hang out there. It's just a donut factory. But people do chill at Timmy's.