The company was originated as a business-school project Snelgrove undertook while studying at the University of Western Ontario.

[1] Timothy's was purchased by Ian and Becky McKinnon in 1986 who further expanded retail locations and created a wholesale coffee division.

[5] On November 13, 2009 Green Mountain Coffee Roasters acquired Timothy's wholesale business from Sun Capital Partners, Inc. for a cash purchase price of approximately $157 million, in U.S. dollars, subject to adjustment.

Concurrently, Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc. acquired Timothy's retail operations for an undisclosed sum.

Green Mountain acquired the Timothy's World Coffee wholesale business, but not their retail operations.

In 2018, MTY Food Group acquired Timothy's World Coffee and Mmmuffins retail operations from Le Duff America.