Meet the kinder, gentler and Canadian face of Tim Hortons

The ongoing war between some Tim Hortons franchisees and their corporate parentis costing everyone.Sales have struggled for six straight quarters andthe brand'sreputationhas plummeted.

But thenew chief corporate officer of Restaurant Brands International (RBI) says the iconic coffee-and-doughnutchain is going to be just fine.

Duncan Fulton has come in as a gentler, kinder and very Canadian face of RBI.

"In a very, very competitive industry, every restaurant in the world would kill to have the kind of brand status that Tim Horton has," said Fulton, who started the job less than a month ago.

He'sspent his career managing Canadiana. Fulton has worked as an adviser and spokespersontoformer prime minister Jean Chrtien, as well asformer premiers Frank McKenna and Dalton McGuinty. He also spent a decade with Canadian Tire, working with that company's network of franchisees.

And that "Canadian" aspect isimportant, asFulton's appointment comes as Restaurant Brands International attempts to improve its relationship with some Tim Hortons franchisees.

The parent companywhich was established after a high-profile merger with Burger King in 2014 and is majority owned by Brazil-based 3G Capital is seen by many as a foreigncarpetbagger,bent on forcingfranchisees into cutting costs and finding efficiencies.

Ongoing disputes between RBIand some Tim Hortons owners have boiled over into public view, includingallegations of mismanagement that devolved into multiple lawsuits and made headlines for more than a year.

The decision by some Ontario franchisees to cut employee benefits and paid breaks in response to the province's minimum wage increase further harmed the brand, resulting in online backlash, boycotts and publicprotests earlier this year.

While same-store sales an important measure in retail that looks at sales in stores open for more than a yearhave weakenedthroughout the prolonged and increasingly fractious disagreements, RBI's profits have soared.

The new president of Tim Hortons, Alex Macedo,has admitted they could have done a better job, Fulton said.

"Undoubtedly, there's a ton of opportunity for growth,there's a ton of opportunity to build backa little bit of the slip the brand hashad the last few years, and to rebuild their relationship with restaurant owners," he said.

The new CCO didn't go into detail of how to repair that image.But in an interview with CBC News, Fulton repeatedly came back to the importance of the franchise owners and the valueof working together.

For months, the relationship between RBI and Tim Hortons franchisees was dominated by demands that franchises spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on renovations, or source their materials from specific suppliers, sometimes at higher costs.

NowFulton is trying to focuson ventures the parent company and the franchisees can launch together. Case in point:Tim Hortonswilllaunch a dedicated kids' menu in the coming weeks.

"We have more kids that come here with their parents than any one of our competitors," he said. "It's low-hanging fruit. Kids are already coming here:after soccer, after hockey, after baseball with their parents. It's just capturing the market that's already here."

Even when discussing the company's ambitious international expansion plans, Fulton weaves in messaging about the paramountcy of the experienced, on-the-ground franchise owners.

Tim Hortonsplans to launch 1,500 new stores in China over the next decade. When asked if the Tim Hortons experience can translate into Chinese culture and society, Fulton says the franchisees know how to tailor stores to local tastes.

"It has to be tailored for a local guest experience. There's a brand standard,but you have to be flexible," he said. "If you're in a market that wants achurro instead of a doughnut, you give them a churro.And that's what happens today in Spain."

The Great White North Franchisee Association a groupthat says it represents about half of Tim Hortons owners in Canada and the U.S. didn't comment for this story.

But franchise owners have already expressed deep concernabout the new tone coming from RBI, asthere has beena lot of bad bloodand trust will be hard to rebuild.

Watch as Duncan Fulton talks about the chain's expansion to China and mending fences with Canadian franchisees:

Despite all the negative press garnered by the recent war between RBI and franchisees, retail analysts expect the two sides to be able to find common ground.

"In many towns, it is the gathering place," said strategy advisor Mark Satov. "That doesn't change because of some bad press about minimum-wage mitigation or franchisee wars."

The franchises are still enormously profitable for both the owners and the parent company, he says.

"The bigger question is whether their owners will actually give the new executive teamthe financial leeway to address the issues," saidSatov."Sears was fixable, too, if the CEOs had had their plans approved."

And Sears is just one example.The retail sector is littered with pastcompanies that found themselves in trouble andforged a planbut just couldn't execute that plan.

Despite the ongoing dispute, RBI is reaping enormous profits. But shareholders know those numbers can and should behigher.

The company will postits latest quarterly earningson Wednesday, providingthe latest look behind the numbers.

Expect shareholders to start pushing for more than just a kinder tone if sales continue to struggle.