First Airport Beachhead
Gong cha is entering the U.S. airport foodservice channel for the first time, with a unit planned for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport expected to open before year-end 2026. The bubble tea brand — nearly 2,200 locations across 33 markets globally — will operate the location in partnership with Kind Hospitality, an airport and hospitality concessionaire led by President and CEO Nava Singam. The deal signals a deliberate pivot toward non-traditional, high-captive-traffic venues as Gong cha presses toward a stated target of 500-plus Americas locations by 2028.
Format Economics
The airport unit runs on Gong cha's 2.0 operating platform, introduced earlier this year, which supports flexible footprints from roughly 150 to 600 square feet — kiosk or compact inline — without walk-in coolers or ventilation hoods. Automation technology embedded in the model targets a sub-60-second beverage production cycle with one to two employees per shift, a staffing profile that addresses two persistent pressure points in airport foodservice: labor availability and throughput during peak boarding windows. Michael Nedelkovich, Vice President of U.S. Non-Traditional Franchise Development, called the model "intentionally designed for operational efficiency, flexibility, and speed," adding that airport consumers expect premium quality without extended wait times.
Non-Traditional Pipeline
The Phoenix opening is the lead unit in what Gong cha describes as an active solicitation of experienced operators and airport concessionaires for additional non-traditional development. The brand currently counts more than 240 U.S. units across 24 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico — a footprint that ranks it No. 1 in the Tea category on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 for five consecutive years. Airport and travel-hub expansion has become a recurring growth lever across the broader fast-casual and specialty beverage segment, where brands including Auntie Anne's, Jamba, and a growing roster of premium coffee concepts have pursued concession agreements to capture captive traveler spend that typically runs well above street-level AUVs.
For Gong cha, the non-traditional channel also diversifies its franchise development pipeline beyond strip-center and mall-court locations, which dominate its existing U.S. estate. The asset-light profile of kiosk and small-format inline units — no hood suppression, no walk-in — reduces build-out cost and compresses the payback window, an appealing unit-economics argument for prospective area development agreement holders eyeing travel hubs, university campuses, and sports venues. The brand's concession partner structure, as demonstrated with Kind Hospitality, suggests Gong cha intends to layer experienced third-party operators into the non-traditional push rather than self-operate.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
