After Canada’s favourite coffee chain left Ryerson, two new brands came to the rescue
If you’re a student who has been attending Ryerson for at least a few years, you may remember the smell of freshly brewed coffee or grabbing a bagel at one of the Tim Hortons locations on campus.
At one point, Ryerson had five Tim Hortons coffee kiosks across campus located in the Ted Rogers School of Management (TRSM), the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, the Hub Cafe and Kerr Hall West. Now, they’re all gone.
In 2017, the school was advised by Tim Hortons that the existing coffee kiosks on campus required renovations to meet the company’s updated brand standards, according to Ryerson’s associate director of food services, Marwan El Chafei.
El Chafei told the Ryersonian that each kiosk would require an investment of “approximately $300,000 to meet these new standards,” and since the school had five, “this would have required an investment of over $1.5 million to be made by Ryerson.”
In early 2018, Ryerson explored different options for coffee and baked goods and held an open coffee tasting for students and faculty. The survey featured coffee from four different vendors, said El Chafei.
Based on community response, the school decided to partner up with Reunion Coffee Roasters and Circles and Squares baked goods. These suppliers set up shop at Ryerson last September.
Now that the school has new coffee and baked goods options, here’s where you can find them.
If you go to the first floor of the engineering building, you’ll find the Kinetic Cafe, which provides “self-serve Starbucks coffee, Teavana teas, Circles and Squares baked goods, and a variety of grab-and-go confections and snacks,” according to El Chafei. This is operated by Ryerson Eats.
Similarly, if you go to the second floor bridge between the library building and Kerr Hall West, you’ll find Reunion Coffee and Circles and Squares baked goods.
The Tim Hortons that was once located on the seventh floor of TRSM has been transformed into a Ted’s Bagels location that also serves Reunion brand coffee and Circles and Squares baked goods.
With only three new spots to satisfy the school’s caffeine and snack intake, El Chafei said the goal is to eventually add more coffee kiosks throughout campus and to differentiate Ryerson Eats kiosks.
Arts and Life reporter for the Ryersonian 2019.