Gong cha has executed a 50-unit exclusive area development agreement in Texas with Bakers Acres & Cattle Company (BACC), a Houston-based multi-generational franchise group — the largest direct franchising deal in the bubble tea brand's history. The seven-year buildout will span Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas, deepening Gong cha's footprint in one of the country's most active franchise development markets.
The Deal Structure
The agreement extends a relationship already embedded in the Texas market: Gong cha's recent acquisition of master franchise rights covering 170 U.S. locations across 13 states, including Texas, provided the structural foundation for accelerated area development agreements of this scale. The brand now operates more than 240 locations across 23 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, and has set a target of exceeding 500 units in the Americas by 2028.
Geoff Henry, President of Gong cha Americas, framed the BACC deal as emblematic of the operator profile the brand is actively recruiting. "Franchisees are looking for concepts with operational simplicity, strong consumer demand and the ability to scale efficiently at relatively low cost," Henry said, pointing to the brand's flexible footprint and labor model as key unit-economics levers for multi-unit development.
The Operator
BACC entered franchising in 2015 through a Nothing Bundt Cakes partnership and has since built a bakery platform across Greater Houston that consistently outperforms systemwide averages, with an active expansion toward 12 units. Brett Walker and Wendi Walker lead the business alongside a next-generation family team with operational depth across real estate, finance and technology — a profile increasingly sought by asset-light franchise systems targeting disciplined, scalable growth.
"Over the past decade, our family has built a highly disciplined multi-unit operating platform, and we know sustainable growth starts with the right systems, infrastructure and brand foundation," said Brett Walker. "Gong cha brings all of that together in a category with tremendous long-term potential."
Category & Competitive Context
The specialty beverage and bubble tea segment has attracted sustained multi-unit interest as operators seek daypart diversification and lower build-out costs relative to full-service formats. Gong cha has been ranked No. 1 in the Tea category on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 for five consecutive years, and its Gong cha 2.0 platform — built around digital ordering, automation and optimized store design — is engineered to support higher throughput while keeping labor requirements lean. Those unit economics are a tangible draw for experienced multi-unit groups already managing complex operations across other franchise systems.
Since launching direct franchising in the U.S. approximately 24 months ago, Gong cha has closed significant area development agreements in Texas, California, Massachusetts, Arizona, Wisconsin and Puerto Rico. The pace of multi-unit signings signals that the brand's asset-light, beverage-focused model is resonating with operators looking beyond saturated QSR categories — a trend visible across the fast-casual beverage segment and emerging franchise development pipelines.
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.
