Bubble tea brand Chatime will open a further 100 stores in Australia within three years.

Another 20 stores will open before the end of 2022, adding to the 11 new outlets already unveiled this year. When Chatime opens these new stores the brand will have a total of 250 in Australia.

As the brand continues to expand it has capitalised on the recent regional migration trend and new sites include Townsville, Byron and Mildura. 

Chatime will target the Queensland market in particular as it has plenty of potential to grow in this state.

The boss of Chatime Australia, CEO Carlos Antonius, admits the business has taken longer to get to the regions than competitors like Gong Cha.

He said “We weren’t ready until we had established our business and brand credentials from a metro perspective to support local growth. We were late to the party, but that’s OK.”

Chatime takes a strategic approach to more stores

He said the franchise is strategic about its expansion and avoiding possible brand cannibalisation.

“We have policies in place to protect franchisees’ investments but we’ve never had to leverage the clauses. We are very considered and take a strategic view.”

Chatime has introduced a self-service kiosk model which in some stores accounts for nearly 80 per cent of transactions. The chain has reduced its city centre footprint, and is focused on delivering a franchise model set for growth.

As Chatime plans its three-year rollout of 100 more stores it is looking favourably at multi-unit ownership.

“We are striving to drive multi-unit growth which is now about 14 per cent. We want to achieve 30 per cent plus working with existing partners. There are efficiencies in multi-unit operations,” Carlos said.

He believes the business model consistently delivers returns which makes it a good investment.

Carlos reports while the bubble tea and iced tea category is growing, overall Chatime is outperforming the market.

Chatime Australia will boost US expansion

The success of Chatime Australia has led to head office tasking the Australian team with managing the brand’s US growth.

The Taiwanese-based business launched in the US in 2012 and 10 years on has just 26 stores there.

Carlos explained Aussie team members will join other operations experts from Taiwan to implement a growth strategy.

“We will be opening our first corporate locations early Q2 with area developers and multi-unit franchising. Chatime Australia is overseeing this,” he said.

He expects to open the first outlet in California in April next year.

“This is an exciting opportunity for the team as well as the brand,” he said.