When you control over 98% of the market, it is not hard to get 100% of some customers' business

Poster advertising Tim Hortons new "Latt-Eh!", Granville Skytrain Station, Vancouver, BC

Poster advertising Tim Hortons new "Latt-Eh!", Granville Skytrain Station, Vancouver, BC (Detail)

Canada has a supply management system for the dairy industry. This mean that Canadian dairy farmers face limited competition from international dairy suppliers regardless of the price they charge. (Imports account for less than 2% of Canadian milk consumption.)

So, is Tim Hortons' boast about "100% Canadian Milk" really a big deal? Not especially.

But the key is to be first to market with the claim. The implication is that other coffee shops make their lattes with imported milk. Probably not the case, but now Starbucks et al face a battle to convince the public that they are also using Canadian milk. And if they do make the claim, it will look as if they are only doing that to copy Tim Hortons. (And that they previously used imported milk.)

Smart move on the part of Tims.