Fairview Donut Inc. v. The TDL Group Corp., 2012 ONSC 1252

This was an attempted class action brought by Tim Hortons franchisees against the franchisor claiming eroding profits from changes made to the franchisor's system.

The franchisees had two main complaints:

(1) that the shift from in-store baking to the "Always Fresh" model, where donuts, cookies and muffins were half baked then flash frozen, or "par baked", for later baking at retail outlets, resulted in franchisees paying unreasonably high prices for those products; and

(2) that the requirement to sell "Lunch Menu" items for extended hours was wrongful given that franchisees had to sell those items at break even prices, or even at a loss.

The franchisees made claims in breach of contract, breach of the common law obligation