Gong cha expands direct franchising to standardize store operations

For the crews making bubble tea at Gong cha, the biggest change is not the warehouse map. It is the push toward a store model where a Chicago shift should look and feel much more like one in San Francisco, with the same menu flow, equipment setup, and operating rules.

The chain said in March that it acquired master-franchise rights to 170 U.S. locations from a franchisee, bringing those shops in-house across 13 states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. At the time, Gong cha said it had nearly 2,200 locations across 33 international markets, while its U.S. network stood at about 240 stores. The company’s long-term U.S. goal remains 1,000 locations.

That expansion is being paired with a more centralized supply-chain playbook. Gong cha’s Americas supply leader, Alan Davis, said the brand has moved from a master-franchise model to direct franchising, giving the company tighter control over sourcing and store execution. The chain is relying on five U.S. warehouses to support the buildout, a setup meant to make deliveries, inventory and product availability more predictable for stores that are trying to move faster and open more units.

For workers, the upside is clearer training and less guesswork. A more uniform system can make onboarding easier for new hires, reduce the number of one-off procedures managers have to teach, and help employees transfer between locations without relearning a different setup each time. In a beverage concept, where one missing syrup, topping or machine part can slow a rush line, that kind of consistency can directly affect prep workload and whether a store runs out of product in the middle of a busy shift.

The downside is that standardization usually comes with more process control. Managers and crew may have less room to adapt ordering, prep or scheduling to local demand, and tighter systems can bring more pressure to follow exact procedures. Gong cha’s broader refresh, called Gong cha 2.0, adds another layer: the company has paired Super Wu beverage automation with self-order kiosks, saying Super Wu was tested for more than two years in more than 40 stores across 13 countries. Gong cha says the system can cut drink-preparation time by nearly a minute, lift peak-hour productivity by as much as 65% and let stores operate with as few as two team members.

The technology push is already changing front-of-house work too. Gong cha says about 70% of U.S. transactions come through kiosks, and that kiosk orders generate 10% to 15% higher average tickets than counter orders. With TA Associates reportedly exploring a possible sale of the chain at a valuation around $2 billion, the pressure to show a repeatable, scalable operation is only growing. For restaurant workers, the story is straightforward: Gong cha is not just adding stores, it is rebuilding the job around a tighter system of labor, training and supply control.