The alliance between Cara Operations and The Second Cup announced at the end of March is the latest development in the growing trend towards twinning, or dual branding.

McDonald’s and Country Style, Wendy’s and Tim Horton’s, kfc and Taco Bell all have experience with the dual branding concept.

Cara, however, is a pioneer.

As early as May 1983, Cara opened co-branded Harvey’s and Swiss Chalet locations in Ontario.

Some eight years later, in 1991, the company held discussions with Oakville, Ont.-based Tim Horton Donuts.

The negotiations didn’t proceed, but obviously, the seed of an idea was planted; it was about that time that Tim Horton and Wendy’s Restaurants of Canada began a relationship that culminated in Wendy’s International of Dublin, Ohio buying the donut chain for u.s.$400-million in August 1995.

McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada is currently testing the dual-branding concept.

Last October, McDonald’s opened a twinned location with Country Style Donuts on Highway 401, near Kingston, Ont.

Meanwhile, Country Style, part of Maple Leaf Food Franchise Operations, a wholly-owned division of Maple Leaf Foods, has been partnering with a number of other companies for nearly six years.

The longest relationship has been with Yogen Fruz, the frozen yogurt chain.

Country Style has incorporated Yogen Fruz at more than half of its 230 locations, while Yogen Fruz has a Country Style showcase in most of its outlets.

But not all of Country Style’s alliances are with other quick-service food companies.

For the past year, Loblaws has been testing Country Style outlets in some of its Toronto-area stores.

As well, Canadian Tire stores in Ontario and Alberta are home to Country Style.

PepsiCo companies Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut have been working together since March 1993, when they consolidated television buying with McKim Media Group, a division of BBDO Canada.

Pizza Hut and Taco Bell are headquartered in the same building in Mississauga, Ont., but right now, only kfc and Taco Bell have a co-branding relationship, with 10 locations in Winnipeg, Man., and three in b.c.

David Strickland, vice-president of marketing and franchising for Pizza Hut, says he expects there will be more coordination of activities from a supplier and media buying standpoint between the three companies, but, he says, Taco Bell and kfc, both of which are often take-out stores, are better suited for twinning than Pizza Hut, usually a full-service, sit-down store.

John McClelland, director of new concepts for kfc, says the results of dual-branded locations in Western Canada have been positive, and similar units will be rolled out to other provinces later this year.

With the kfc/Taco Bell locations, Mcclelland says lunch, dinner and snack times are covered.

He says the company is still looking to bring in a breakfast concept, because there are none in the PepsiCo stable.

Gabe Tsampalieros, president and ceo of Cara Operations, says he sees quick-service restaurant operators looking for more dual- and multiple-branding opportunities, not just for the sake of reducing overhead, but to bring more customers to the same location.

Tsampalieros says Cara will be rolling out its dual-branded locations as soon as possible after May 13 (the date when Second Cup shareholders are being asked to approve a proposal which would see Cara purchase 37% of the specialty coffee chain), adding the first co-branded locations will be Swiss Chalet/Second Cup.

This combination would give Swiss Chalet the morning and after-8:00 p.m. dayparts that it doesn’t have now, he says.

The prototype is a full-service Swiss Chalet restaurant, with a smaller cafe component.

There would also be a drive-through window.

Rapid changes are also anticipated at some of Cara’s non-branded divisions, such as Beaver Foods, which operates and manages cafeterias for the private sector and for various universities and colleges.

The company has about 50 coffee bar outlets, now called Roasters, but most will be converted to Second Cup outlets, as will the airport restaurants operated by Cara in terminals across Canada.

Tsampalieros says no decision has been made yet about twinning Harvey’s with Second Cup.

Harvey’s already does a significant breakfast business and Second Cup might be perceived as too upscale for a hamburger restaurant.

‘The natural tendency of people would be to think hamburgers marry a lot more quickly with donuts and coffee rather than cappuccino,’ says Tsampalieros, ‘although it raises some interesting possibilities for us to completely distinguish our Harvey’s brand from the rest of the hamburger lot.

Denny Lynch, vice-president of corporate communications for Wendy’s International, says when Wendy’s and Tim Horton’s started building combination units, they realized that development costs were not only about 25% less, but that individual sales were higher in those units than in others.

He says that’s because the two businesses are highly complementary, not competitive, with each brand being strong at different times of the day.

There are now 40 combination Wendy’s/Tim Horton units in Canada and there are plans for 30 more this year, most of them here.

Lynch says some dual-branded restaurants will also be built in u.s. border cities.

There is also the possibility of taking the Wendy’s/Tim Horton’s concept abroad.

‘According to the donut research people, Japan, for example, is the number two country in donut consumption in the world. Wendy’s has a very successful franchise in Japan, so who knows?’