In its last earnings call, Restaurant Brands, the parent of Burger King and Tim Horton’s, briefly reiterated its south of the US border development goals, but Q&A along with recent moves point to more international development priorities. In May, the press picked up on the fact it was shutting the Tim’s US development office in Columbus Ohio, and was centralizing its store development operation in its Ontario headquarters.  About 30 staffers were affected. It seems they are looking for big new “outside of US” development agreements. Intelligence is that existing franchisees are not being offered joint Tim’s/Burger King cobranding initiatives.  Elsewhere in the QSR world, Starbuck CEO Howard Schultz presented at the Bernstein Investment Conference, and displayed a long list of new tests and initiatives, among them, the pay and go platform in Seattle and Portland, delivery in New York City and Seattle, and the mini Starbucks Express stores (supposedly, one on Wall Street did not cannibalize a store just down the street). Interestingly, Howard noted cannibalization of 25 to 35% of their grade A sites was noted, but that new stores were opening strongly. They didn’t seem to care much if total market share increased. Starbucks is emphasizing customization, digital and its barrista culture.