Chagee

Company Profile and Market Insights

Explore the business model, global strategy, and market performance including insights into its position in China.

Key facts

Founded 2017 • Listed on Nasdaq Apr 2025 • Ticker CHA

7,338

Teahouses worldwide (Sep 30, 2025)

6,971

Franchised teahouses (Sep 30, 2025)

367

Company owned teahouses (Sep 30, 2025)

222.0M

Registered members (Sep 30, 2025)

Countries in network (Jan 8, 2026)

10,000+ t

Tea sourcing volume (2025)

About

Chagee, branded as 霸王茶姬, is a China-based freshly made tea chain founded in 2017, with its first store opening on November 17, 2017 in Yunnan. The company’s principal executive offices are in Chengdu, Sichuan, and it has been listed on Nasdaq since April 2025 under the ticker CHA.

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Chagee focuses on modernized tea beverages built around whole-leaf tea and fresh ingredients, with a menu that leans heavily on fresh milk tea formats. Growth has been driven by a large, mostly franchised store base. As of December 31, 2024, Chagee reported 6,440 teahouses globally, including 6,284 in China.

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By the end of March 2025, Reuters reported Chagee had nearly 6,700 teahouses worldwide, with many locations in China’s premium shopping malls under a franchise setup. As of January 8, 2026, Chagee said its network operates across eight countries: China, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and the United States. The brand’s core idea is simple: bring Chinese tea culture into a format that fits fast urban routines without turning tea into coffee.

Business Model and Market Position

Chagee runs a premium tea chain built around a large franchised store network, backed by a central supply chain and a high-frequency digital loyalty loop. As of September 30, 2025, Chagee’s network reached 7,338 teahouses, including 6,971 franchised and 367 company-owned, which means franchising represents about 95% of locations.

The model is designed to scale store count while keeping corporate capital intensity lower than a fully company-owned rollout. Financially, franchised operations dominate reported revenue. In Q3 2025, net revenues from franchised teahouses were RMB 2.81 billion, equal to 87.6% of total net revenues, while company-owned teahouses generated RMB 396.7 million.

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Core activities

Franchise network management:
Chagee grows footprint through franchised partners while setting store standards, operating playbooks, and product execution.
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Centralized sourcing and logistics:
Scale supports procurement leverage and supply chain control. In 2025, Chagee reported annual tea sourcing volume above 10,000 tons and partnerships with 100+ tea factories.
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Company-owned stores as operators and testbeds:
Company-owned teahouses expanded to 367 by September 30, 2025, supporting training, experimentation, and overseas execution.
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Digital membership and ordering:
Chagee’s mobile mini program reached 222.0 million registered members as of September 30, 2025, supporting retention and repeat purchasing.
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Market position

Premium placement:
Chagee has built a visible presence in higher-end locations in China, including malls, and is often positioned as a premium tea alternative to coffee-led chains.
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Scale with franchise economics:
A 7,338-store network gives Chagee distribution advantages in a category where many brands compete on pace of openings and local density.
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Competitive pressure is real:
In Q3 2025, Chagee reported lower cup sales and softer GMV in Greater China, tied to intensified subsidy competition in food delivery platforms. Same-store GMV growth in Greater China was -27.9%.
Crowded tea landscape: Chagee competes with premium peers like Heytea and Nayuki, plus value-focused players such as Mixue that shape pricing expectations in many cities.

Performance in China

China is Chagee’s core market, reported as Greater China, which includes mainland China plus Hong Kong and Taiwan. As of September 30, 2025, Chagee operated 6,836 teahouses in Greater China, up from 6,145 at December 31, 2024, with the network still dominated by franchised locations.
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Demand softened in 2025 amid tougher pricing. In Q3 2025, Greater China GMV was RMB 7,629.2 million, down from RMB 8,130.1 million a year earlier. Average monthly GMV per teahouse in Greater China fell to RMB 378,506, and same-store GMV growth in Greater China was -27.9%. Management attributed lower cup sales to intensified subsidy competition among food delivery platforms.
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Chagee’s digital reach remains large. Its mobile mini program had 222.0 million registered members as of September 30, 2025, with 35.2 million active members during the quarter. Chagee also built visibility through premium mall locations in China under its franchise setup.

Growth and Future Prospects

Chagee’s next phase of growth rests on two tracks: defending brand and unit economics in China while scaling overseas where the competitive set and consumer habits differ. By Q3 2025, Chagee’s global network reached 7,338 teahouses, and management highlighted product innovation and overseas rollout as priorities.

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Overseas expansion is moving from early footholds to broader market development. In Q3 2025, overseas GMV rose 75.3% year over year to RMB 300.3 million, even as Greater China GMV declined amid heavier discounting on delivery platforms. In early January 2026, Chagee stated its store network spans eight countries, including several Southeast Asian markets plus the United States, and it reported overseas member growth momentum in Asia-Pacific markets during 2025. Reuters also reported China tea chains, including Chagee, pushing into the US, with Chagee aiming for a flagship presence in Silicon Valley as part of its overseas strategy.

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Scaling overseas and sustaining product consistency depends on supply chain depth. Chagee reported tea procurement around the 10,000-ton level in 2025 and partnerships with 100+ tea factories, which supports standardization across a large franchise-led footprint.

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Key growth drivers include:

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Overseas rollout across Southeast Asia and the United States, supported by fast member growth in Asia-Pacific markets.
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Product innovation cadence that refreshes the menu and supports repeat purchasing across different city tiers.
Supply chain scale that protects quality and availability as store count rises.
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Ambition and brand export: Chagee has stated long-range targets tied to global reach and volume, which frames investment priorities after its US listing.
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Challenges ahead include:

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China pricing pressure from delivery-platform subsidies that has already weighed on same-store demand metrics.
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Franchise execution risk as new markets and lower-tier cities increase training and oversight demands.
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Overseas localization of flavors, price points, and store operations as competition intensifies in the US and Southeast Asia.
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Geopolitical and regulatory noise around cross-border listings and consumer brands operating across jurisdictions.

This Company Profile was written by Dominik Diemer

Dominik Diemer blends an investor mindset with execution discipline.

He is a SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) and Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) practitioner at DMG MORI Digital, working as a SAFe Release Train Engineer and internal consultant in the Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE).

His focus is prioritization, flow, and dependency management that turns strategy into outcomes. With experience across Bertelsmann and the Founders Foundation, he bridges corporate and startup thinking.

He also invests privately in private equity deals, sharpening his view on business models, value drivers, and go-to-market.

StockCounterParts reflects that lens.

Dominik Diemer

Founder of StockCounterparts.com