TORONTO – A refreshed vision for Tim Hortons in a highly competitive Canadian coffee market begins to take shape this week.

The coffee and doughnut chain will reveal its strategy in two stages, starting on Thursday with its year-end financial results.

Next week, recently appointed chief executive officer Marc Caira will take the stage at the company’s investor day to outline the next chapter in the Tim Hortons story.

The Oakville, Ont.-based company (TSX:THI) faces on onslaught of challengers in a coffee industry that it once seemed to effortlessly dominate.

The number of people buying food at its locations has been slowly declining over the years, as more consumers turn to cheaper alternatives like McDonalds or the wider range of coffee flavours offered by Starbucks and Second Cup (TSX:SCU).

“Our outlook for Tims is unchanged heading into the fourth-quarter release, as negative traffic in Canada remains a concern,” said Barclays analyst Erica Chase in a note.

She expects the company will need to focus on innovation, better customer service and utilizing technology at its stores, if it wants to grow its business.

Some of those ideas were already being considered by Caira last fall when he spoke to The Canadian Press about his plans to boost the reputation of the company.

He said the customer experience at the counter was a “moment of truth” that would determine whether they were satisfied enough to come back again.

“Future battles are not going to be won, in my view, with who has the best strategy or who has the best innovation,” Caira said.

“The companies that will win will be the companies that can execute flawlessly at the store level.”