Geoff Henry reveals how Gong cha grew to 2,200+ locations by obsessing over tea quality, franchise partnerships, and creating a personalized experience that turns first-time visitors into loyal regulars worldwide.
Geoff shares how Gong cha grew from a single tea shop in Taiwan to over 2,200 locations across 33 countries by staying obsessive about product quality, franchisee passion, and delivering a personalized guest experience at every touchpoint. He breaks down what it takes to scale a globally loved brand into the US market, how Gong cha 2.0 is redefining the in-store experience with technology and design, and why consistency from the tea farm to the handoff moment is the foundation of lasting brand loyalty.
Welcome to Elevating Brick and Mortar. A podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance.
On today's episode, we talk with Geoff Henry, President of the Americas at Gong cha. With over 20 years in the beverage industry spanning Colgate-Palmolive, Coca-Cola, and Jamba Juice, Geoff brings a rare combination of global brand-building expertise and franchise operations know-how to one of the world's fastest-growing bubble tea concepts.
Guest Bio:
Geoff is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience leading many of the world’s most recognized consumer brands, including Jamba, Coca-Cola, Colgate, Dasani, Dunkin’ bottled coffee, and Gold Peak and Honest teas.
Adept at scaling businesses and cultivating collaborative teams, Geoff joined Gong cha in 2023 as President of the Americas region—which includes over 400 locations in the territory, and 225 in the U.S. Under his leadership, Gong cha grew its U.S. store count by 19% YOY, was ranked #1 in the Tea category on Entrepreneur magazine’s prestigious Franchise 500® list for the third consecutive year (2024), and awarded category winner of Top Food & Beverage Franchises in the Global Franchise Awards (2023).
Prior to taking the helm at Gong cha, Geoff was President of Jamba, where he successfully integrated the company into Focus Brands and led its digital transformation. During his tenure, he returned the brand to growth—driving topline sales, and increasing its development pipeline.
Prior to Jamba, Geoff was a senior executive with Coca-Cola for over twelve years, where he oversaw the company’s portfolio of water, tea and coffee brands for the U.S. He transformed their tea portfolio to capture the #2 market share position, while also pioneering the company’s entrance into the ready-to-drink coffee category.
Geoff received his undergraduate degree from Duke University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He currently serves on the board of advisors for PayQuicker, a global payments platform.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:59 - About Gong cha: Brand, services & history
03:14 - Geoff's career journey: Coca-Cola, Jamba Juice & the path to Gong cha
07:36 - Gong cha’s North Star
15:20 - Gong cha 2.0: New store design, kiosks, & technology
21:20 - Franchise selection & site strategy
32:37 - Macro trends: Pace of innovation, social media, & AI
38:51 - What's next for Gong cha: Path to 1,000 US locations, licensing & brand expansion
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[00:00:00] Producer: Welcome to Elevating Brick and Mortar, a podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance. On today's episode, we'll hear from Geoff Henry, president of the Americas at Gong cha. Geoff reveals how Gong cha grew to over 2,000 locations by obsessing over tea quality, franchise partnerships, and creating a personalized experience that turns first-time visitors into loyal regulars worldwide.
[00:00:27] Producer: Now here's your host, Sid Shetty.
[00:00:35] Sid Shetty: Hello, everyone. Welcome to season five of Elevating Brick and Mortar. Thank you for joining us. I'm here today with Geoff Henry, President of the Americas at Gong cha. Geoff, welcome to the show.
[00:00:46] Geoff Henry: Hey, Sid. Thanks so much. Great to be here with you.
[00:00:48] Sid Shetty: Excited to have you on. Geoff, for listeners who may not be familiar, can you share a bit about Gong cha?
[00:00:54] Geoff Henry: Yeah, absolutely. So Gong cha is one of the world's leading bubble tea chains. We started back in 2006 in Taiwan with a founder who was passionate about making high-quality tea, and that concept has evolved from one store to now over 2,200 locations around the world- Wow ... in over 33 countries. And so we make high-quality tea that's made to order.
[00:01:21] Geoff Henry: We make milk tea, bubble tea, smoothies, fruit drinks. And again, we've got it, uh, locations all around the world, as well as certainly in many states here in the US.
[00:01:30] Sid Shetty: That is phenomenal. I mean, it... I, I think anecdotally, we can all say that bubble tea has exploded, at least in the US, right? But it also has been happening at, globally for several years.
[00:01:42] Sid Shetty: Um, what do you think drove that momentum and continues to drive that momentum?
[00:01:46] Geoff Henry: Yeah, I mean, well, I mean, bubble tea's been around since the late '90s. You know, it started primarily in Taiwan and then kind of started to grow within Asia. And, you know, it's very much about personalization of, of a beverage, right?
[00:02:00] Geoff Henry: So it, it started in, in Asia. Our brand specifically moved from kind of Taiwan to Korea to Japan to Australia, and it continued to gain momentum as we were kind of delighting our guests with a fantastic beverage and a drink that's made to order. Because not only can you pick your, your type of tea, whether you want green tea or black tea, but you're also getting to choose different toppings, whether it's our traditional kind of pearls, which other people refer to as boba-
[00:02:26] Sid Shetty: Yeah
[00:02:26] Geoff Henry: or you can add, like, a milk foam on top or other jellies. So you can really kind of make it just the way you want it. And then also in today's world of kind of Instagram where everything is, you know, people are taking photos of their drinks and their meals, you know, our drinks look fantastic, so they're great to kind of share on Instagram.
[00:02:41] Sid Shetty: Yeah, for sure. Now, let's talk about you, uh, you know, before we jump right back into, to Gong cha. Yeah. You've had a fascinating career across multiple, like, well-known consumer brands, Coca-Cola, Jamba Juice, and, and now Gong cha. Yeah. Tell us about your journey and, and how it, how it shaped how you lead today.
[00:02:59] Geoff Henry: Yeah. So I've always been interested in business, and I've always been kind of interested also in kind of consumer products. You know, I started my career in finance 'cause I wanted to get a better sense for kind of how businesses are run. But kind of shortly after that, I jumped more into kind of the brand management strategy space.
[00:03:16] Geoff Henry: Uh, worked first actually with Colgate-Palmolive and then had the opportunity to join Coca-Cola here in Atlanta, which is where I've been for the past 20 years. So I've been in the beverage space for now over 20 years with Coca-Cola. You know, I managed many of their brands from their flagship brand Coke.
[00:03:32] Geoff Henry: I've spent the, the last decade of my, of my time with them really managing some of their high-growth brands and categories. So, uh, before I departed, I was running their water, tea, and coffee brands, which was a combination of Nine different brands across several different categories. And then from there, I moved over to, uh, run Jamba Juice when Roark Capital took it private and had my first opportunity kind of in the world of multi-unit franchising.
[00:03:55] Geoff Henry: But I then had the chance to meet our current CEO, Paul Rinesh, and, uh, learn more about Gong cha and made that, the leap here to Gong cha about three years ago. But the reality is I've been looking at the bubble tea category for over a decade because at, during my time at Coke, like you mentioned, I continued to see the bubble tea phenomenon kinda take roots here in the US, right?
[00:04:15] Geoff Henry: It was opening up on both coasts, and then it moved kind of inwards across the country. You know, the category started heavily in the US in kind of heavily Asian communities, and then it moved rapidly into the college and university space, and now every major metropolitan area has bubble tea. And so for me, I think it's a fantastic space.
[00:04:33] Geoff Henry: It's a high-growth space, and I've always been curious to learn and love a good challenge. And quite frankly, you know, ten years ago, when I was at Coke and seeing bubble tea expand, I wasn't confident that it was gonna be more than just a fad. Uh, then I went-- When I went to Jamba, I continued to see bubble tea expand, you know, in the late teens and early twenties here, and that's when I realized that this is, this is a, a major macro trend that's influencing kinda young consumers all around the world.
[00:04:58] Geoff Henry: So that's kind of how I've gotten here today. And for me, you know, I f- I spent many, many years working at, you know, large companies, JPMorgan, Colgate-Palmolive, Coca-Cola. Learned a lot, learned kinda what great can look like- Yeah ... in great organizations, and now have I kinda used that tool, tool set as I've moved to kind of smaller, fast-growing companies to apply those skills.
[00:05:18] Sid Shetty: Thank you for sharing. Now, you know, in your 20 years, like, you've spent so much time building brands and, and building products, and I think we can all say that it's not good enough to just have good product, right? There's so much more to building a brand around it, where you have to almost resonate emotionally and connect with the consumer, and consumer expectations are higher than before.
[00:05:38] Sid Shetty: What is required when you think about building a brand, especially if it's from scratch or building a brand, you know, across different geos and cultures?
[00:05:47] Geoff Henry: I mean, to your point, it's more than, than just the product. You gotta really, I think, kind of take a hard look at what are your competitive advantages.
[00:05:54] Geoff Henry: You know, i-in the case of Gong cha, you know, we have an outstanding product, and truly, you know, there's, there's a lot of competitors out there globally and in the US, but we do have a fantastic product. And Gong cha literally means a tribute or tea served up to royalty. Mm. It's, it's ceremonial tea. So w-when our name literally means kind of a high quality tea served up to effectively the emperor, kind of, in, in old terms, you know, we know we have to stand up for greatness.
[00:06:21] Geoff Henry: Yeah. So for us, product quality is number one, and the consistency and the standards behind that, you know, have to be really well executed. But then more than that, it's, it's the full experience, right? Is it, do we get the gor-- the guest's order correct? Do we do it in time in, in their expectations?
[00:06:37] Geoff Henry: Depending upon our store environment, do we have the right mood and vibe going on for the, for the guest to come in with their friends and hang out? So there's a lot that goes into it, for sure, and we kind of scorecard ourselves against a lot of those metrics, where-- whether it's brand health or operational performance, but me and the team are looking at on a regular basis.
[00:06:54] Sid Shetty: Do you have a North Star when you think about just your style of leadership and, you know, how your North Star aligns with the North Star for the brand and, you know, the-- what you want to offer your consumer? Because ultimately, you know, there's a lot of different options out there, and you have an idea of what great looks like and why someone should drive that extra mile to come and visit your location. What does that great look like for you, and how do you align your North Star and Gong cha's North Star to that?
[00:07:25] Geoff Henry: If I look at Gong cha again, our foundation is our history and our authenticity. To the space and the category, but built around, again, the quality and the consistency of our beverage, because we're the only bubble tea brand out there that has our own de-designated tea farm.
[00:07:43] Geoff Henry: So we know the quality from literally picking the tea leaves in Vietnam and getting it all the way into the cup in the hands of our consumers everywhere around the world, right? So for us, we wanna make sure that the experience is fantastic every day. But we also, we're ever-changing. You know, this is a fast-moving category.
[00:08:01] Geoff Henry: If, if you're familiar with bubble tea, a lot of people come in and order kind of a milk tea with boba, but they're also expecting new news every day, right? So it, we're constantly innovating. And I think if I relate to kind of that expectation, you know, kind of back to myself, you know, as I mentioned before, I know what I'm really good at, but I also know that I need to continue to kind of challenge and, and grow both professionally and personally as a leader.
[00:08:25] Geoff Henry: And so kind of those combinations I think pair well in terms of what we're looking to do with Gong cha. We know what we're great at, but we also know that we need to continue to innovate and get better every day.
[00:08:35] Sid Shetty: Help us understand like your, your growth model. Like are you completely hundred percent franchise-based or do you have some corporate locations?
[00:08:43] Sid Shetty: Do you do a hybrid? What does your s-structure look like and, and how do you fuel growth?
[00:08:48] Geoff Henry: Yeah. We are primarily franchise. So at, at a global level, we're about ninety percent franchise locations. Again, we've got some very large portfolios of stores in Japan primarily and Korea. In Japan, we've got over two hundred and thirty locations.
[00:09:03] Geoff Henry: We're the dominant player. Likewise in Korea, close to nine hundred locations, and again, the number one competitor. In both of those markets, we have, you know, over, over ten percent of our portfolio is company-owned. You know, in the US, it's been a, a ver- kind of a changing store, which we can get into more, but our portfolio in the US is about five percent company-owned.
[00:09:22] Geoff Henry: And so we use obviously our company stores to create best practices, you know, modify our SOPs as needed, really kind of build stores of the future. We just launched last year our new store design called Gong cha 2.0. So we kind of obviously invest first to make sure that the new design is working well, that the investments are kind of giving a good cash-on-cash return so that if w-we like the, uh, the economics, we know we can, can turn to our franchisees and then kind of share with them the story to get them excited about making investments into a new design.
[00:09:55] Geoff Henry: So, uh, again, heavily franchised, but we do have a, a number of company-owned stores.
[00:09:59] Sid Shetty: Gotcha. Now let's talk about what it actually takes to scale and operate a modern consumer brand, especially one that's built around experience and, and, and franchising, right? Gong cha, like, you know, as you explained, is very experience-driven. There's a lot of, you know, focus on speed, quality, but also personalization. Yeah. So how do you think about, you know, how… What's the best way to deliver a memorable customer experience across all locations considering, you know, you're franchise-based and you're distributed locations, you're in different cities, and it, it, it takes a lot to maintain consistency? Help us understand how you do that.
[00:10:38] Geoff Henry: Yeah, I mean, I think the, the key word there you said is consistency, right?
[00:10:42] Geoff Henry: So it all starts, again, 'cause we're heavily franchised. We gotta make sure that our own kind of onboarding for new franchisees as well as constant training for existing franchisees is best in class. And so You know, when we bring on a new franchisee, whether you're a franchisee in Japan or Australia or the US, it's the same approach, right?
[00:11:03] Geoff Henry: So we work with our new franchisees for several weeks. We bring them into our company-owned stores, our training stores, really help them understand kind of how to make the beverages, make them with speed. You know, how to welcome the guest, like actually how to hand off the drink in a specific way to kind of thank the guest for coming, make the eye contact again, which is, you know, not something you see all the time in the food service industry.
[00:11:24] Geoff Henry: So, you know, it starts heavily with training, kind of the physical kind of working hand-in-hand with new franchisees. But we also have now online learning management platforms. We use like services like Crunchtime to kind of roll out new drinks, new protocols. But certainly training is at the core of the consistency, right?
[00:11:42] Geoff Henry: And then we have tools to monitor our franchisees' kind of daily engagement. We use things like Zenput to understand kind of what's going on within the stores on a daily basis. Are the team members doing kind of regular checks of our tea? You know, because the tea has to be made every few hours to make sure it's fresh and it still tastes great.
[00:12:01] Geoff Henry: Uh, we make it multiple times throughout the day. So a lot of it comes down to training. Yeah. Uh, and then certainly other parts of it are, you know, making sure we select the right franchisees, which we can talk about too.
[00:12:09] Sid Shetty: I love that. You know, I've, I had a lot of these conversations, Geoff, and you're the first guest who talked about, you know, how you even serve the, the i- the product.
[00:12:20] Sid Shetty: You talked about not only how you serve, but how you maintain eye contact and- Right ... you know, that is part of the experience. I love that. That's amazing. Why is that extra touch so important? You know, it's a hospitality business after all, right? And- Yeah ... and human interaction, especially today, is so important with different ways in which you're interacting with brands and the digitization of, you know, everything.
[00:12:43] Sid Shetty: Why is that important for you?
[00:12:45] Geoff Henry: Yeah. So, you know, we've got a very flexible concept. So we've got locations that are as small as two hundred square feet you might find in a, you know, an indoor shopping mall in the US. We've got locations that are in, you know, strip malls or, or street side that could be a thousand square feet that have a number of seats inside.
[00:13:02] Geoff Henry: So- It depends. At the high level, we are a concept. We want Gong cha to be in the way and on the way. Meaning we want to be able to delight the guest no matter where they are, and be able to come in, order the drink, and have it made to the way they want it. And, and get the drink, you know, in no more than three or four minutes.
[00:13:20] Geoff Henry: That's the, you know, if the guest is just coming in to get the drink and they're not staying, then we obviously need a, the fantastic beverage. But the final moment of kind of thanking them for coming, handing it off, a- and giving that eye contact is extremely important, right? Yeah. We want to thank them for spending their dollar.
[00:13:35] Geoff Henry: You know, because again, you know, our drinks are often five to seven dollars. If you're gonna spend that on a beverage, then you wanna make sure that you're getting, you know, good value for the money, and that's not just in the form of the physical beverage.
[00:13:46] Sid Shetty: I love it. Now, the physical environment clearly matters and especially in a concept like yours.
[00:13:50] Sid Shetty: I mean, all concepts, but you know, i-i- in an environment where you just said customers spending three or four minutes in your location, it's even more impactful when, when, you know, you're trying to make a, an impression, right?
[00:14:02] Geoff Henry: Yeah.
[00:14:02] Sid Shetty: How do you think about that relationship between store design, the atmosphere you're creating, and this, this brand perception, especially as you're looking to grow in the Americas?
[00:14:14] Sid Shetty: And, you know, I'd, I'd love to understand, like, what is Gong cha 2.0? What, what is- what does that mean and what, what started it?
[00:14:22] Geoff Henry: Yeah. So we've given a lot of thought over the past couple of years to our store design. And again, the brand has been in the US for about 10 years. But really, in the past 18 months, we've started to roll out kind of our, our store of the future, which we call, you know, very sophisticated Gong cha 2.0.
[00:14:40] Geoff Henry: But it's really about kind of bringing a lot of kind of modern elements and, and more technology and just, uh, even a, a, a, a better vibe into our stores, right? So for us, you know, obviously the, the quality of the drink is, is certainly at the core of it. But if I was to kind of walk you through like our, you know, the experience in a, a traditional, or traditional layout today, you're gonna...
[00:15:01] Geoff Henry: The guest would walk in. We're gonna greet them as they walk in with, you know, with a warm hello, welcome in. We've got self-order kiosks now in all of our locations, and we, we do that because the majority of our guests are Gen Z, you know, often kind of 16 to 30 years old. And a lot of those guests much prefer to order off of a, off of a kiosk than walk up to the counter and, and have to order from a team member.
[00:15:25] Geoff Henry: Plus, if they're familiar with, with Gong cha, the kiosk really allows them to peruse the full menu.
[00:15:32] Sid Shetty: Mm.
[00:15:32] Geoff Henry: Uh, it's very easy to make additions, add additional toppings. And so the kiosk is the first key element that really helps the guest make sure they can personalize it the way they want it. In the, in our Gong cha 2.0 stores, we then actually have added a piece of high technology dispensing equipment that we refer to as Super Wu.
[00:15:51] Geoff Henry: And I say that because the founder of our company, his name was Super Wu, so this is an homage to him. And, uh, so the drink and the dispensing equipment actually reduces the speed time for making a drink from three minutes down to 30 seconds.
[00:16:05] Sid Shetty: Wow.
[00:16:06] Geoff Henry: So it dispenses, you know, the, the tea type that the guest has, has asked for.
[00:16:10] Geoff Henry: It, uh, it dispenses the sweetness level they've asked for. It might add milk or other type of flavorings. And therefore, the team member can kind of take what's been dispensed, they add some additional toppings, they do kind of add the ice and, and cool down the beverage more with some more food theater and, and, and shakers.
[00:16:28] Geoff Henry: And then they quickly kind of seal it off with our proprietary sealers and hand it off to the guest. And so that experience enables, you know, literally in now, uh, you could do it in under a minute, where the guest could place an order, get the drink, get the warm handoff. So if they don't wanna stay in the store, they can be in and out in, in under two minutes.
[00:16:46] Sid Shetty: Hmm.
[00:16:46] Geoff Henry: But in our new store environments, we've also added a number of, of beautiful large LED screens that are highly interactive, that kind of showcase a lot of our brand messages in stores from around the world. So if you wanna... If the guest wants to come in with their friends and hang out, we've also created a really cool vibe and space for them to do so, if they don't wanna kind of just come in and come out with a beverage.
[00:17:06] Sid Shetty: Tha- that's fascinating. What is this, I guess, balance that you're trying to achieve between, you know, bringing in a lot of technology into your locations and giving customers the option to order digitally, while also, you know, trying to preserve the human interaction? And, you know, how, how does the space and the environment you're creating, considering, you know, the Asian roots of your brand, h- w- how do you grapple with that, that balance, and how do you de- how does design and the people element You know, blend together
[00:17:40] Geoff Henry: Yeah.
[00:17:40] Geoff Henry: I mean, a- again, because we've got such a, a variety of footprints, it really kind of depends on the type of location. So our, our kiosk locations are designed obviously quite differently than an in-store location. But we try and make the spaces intimate, right? So our core space now is likely, you know, 1,000 square feet.
[00:17:58] Geoff Henry: So the front of house where we have seating, and the seating might be, you know, you know, 10 to 16 seats. You know, we're also kind of using furniture that's warm and comfortable to encourage the guests to come in a- and hang out. You know, we've also got, you know, a lot of our, our core guests are students, and so they're coming in- Mm
[00:18:15] Geoff Henry: with their laptops. Maybe they're coming in to study with friends or study alone. You know, so we've got the power plugs. We've got the, uh, all the ability to kind of juice up their, their, their portable batteries.
[00:18:25] Sid Shetty: Right.
[00:18:26] Geoff Henry: And so there, there... it's a fine line between kind of making sure that we, we have some of the technology enhancements.
[00:18:33] Geoff Henry: We're giving them kind of additional benefits so that if they wanna stay and hang out, they can. You know, we've got some nice music playing, but obviously nothing too loud because often when people come in and hang out or, or studying, they've got their own kind of music going on with their, their earbuds.
[00:18:47] Geoff Henry: So again, uh, there's no, there's no one, one perfect way, but we look at kind of the different environments and make decisions based upon what we think the guest is really looking for.
[00:18:55] Sid Shetty: Yeah. Our audience, you know, is, is in facilities and construction, operations, and store design, architecture and, and, you know, everyone in the built environment knows the impact the built environment has on a brand, how the brand is perceived, and the experience that you're delivering to your customer.
[00:19:16] Sid Shetty: But not always is... are those teams at the table. Not always do you think about, "Hey, we're gonna build this location. How are we gonna maintain it?" Right. You know, what does great look like from a maintenance standpoint? As someone who is the leader of a large part of your business, how does that make its way to you?
[00:19:35] Sid Shetty: Like, how do those teams, you know, showcase their impact and, and how do you go and leverage them to continue to always, you know, be in touch with your consumer And have a way to make the changes that you need to make to ensure that your experience in the locations that you're creating every single day, they live up to the brand standards.
[00:19:58] Geoff Henry: The store design and, and, and layouts often start with kind of an idea or a vision, you know, where we're working with an agency, and we'll kind of, you know, start to kind of sketch it out with renderings. And then it moves from that into actually, like, prototyping, right? So that's the benefit of having company-owned stores where we can start to kind of play with different types of materials, get a better sense for how things might hold up over a period of time.
[00:20:22] Geoff Henry: You know, how different kind of combinations of materials and textures work well together in a live environment. And I can tell you that, you know, we now have kind of this Gong cha 2.0 brand book, but there were about 30 versions of it before we actually finalized it, right? Mm-hmm. Because we basically had, you know, the team at the table on our kind of design and construction teams working with our close kind of vendor partners who are often providing the materials, so we could kind of fine-tune a lot of the different elements that actually finally make their way into that brand book.
[00:20:53] Geoff Henry: Because the brand book is what we actually use with our franchise system, right? So we got to test and learn with our company-owned stores, learn what's working well, what's not, what maybe is too expensive for something where we thought we could kind of value engineer it, but we did it, you know, not necessarily at, at, a, a good enough quality, how to take a step back and kind of pick a, a different set of, of materials.
[00:21:14] Geoff Henry: So, um, you know, we have these conversations on a weekly basis with our design and construction team to make those refinements and enhancements, and we're always kind of testing and learning within our company stores to get better every day.
[00:21:26] Sid Shetty: How prescriptive are you when it comes to, you know, the design elements that are allowed in the, in your locations that are franchised?
[00:21:33] Sid Shetty: Uh, how prescriptive are you in terms of how you want them maintained? What, what kind of guiding principles should be used, and what kind of, I, I guess, standard work should be used by the franchisees to ensure that every location, every franchise represents the brand the best way possible?
[00:21:53] Geoff Henry: It varies a little bit based upon the country that we're dealing with.
[00:21:56] Geoff Henry: So in, in the US, we are like a direct franchised organization, so basically all of our franchisees work with us directly as, as the franchisor. In other countries, we tend to master franchise, so we're kind of at arm's length away from the day-to-day store-level franchisee.
[00:22:13] Sid Shetty: Hmm.
[00:22:14] Geoff Henry: And so because of the different ty-types of model, we have to be pretty prescriptive, right?
[00:22:18] Geoff Henry: So w-we're, we're pretty clear about kind of this is the type of material that needs to be used. We'll provide basically samples of materials to all the master franchisees so that they can kind of see what they need to be using. We don't necessarily require them to use a precise spec. Basically find something that's within the range that's, that's reasonable and appropriate, and then we have members of our teams in those countries, you know, review the designs before they're finalized, uh, to bless it.
[00:22:45] Geoff Henry: And then in terms of maintenance, you know, within our franchise agreements, again, we're very clear about kind of overall kind of maintenance on an annual basis. We've got language there about kind of refreshing stores- Yeah ... at least every five years, and then remodeling every ten years, kind of pretty standard within the franchising industry.
[00:23:00] Geoff Henry: Yep, so we certainly do have ways to kind of make sure that we maintain, uh, the quality of the stores over time.
[00:23:05] Sid Shetty: Yeah. That, that's spot on. I think every single day, like, what, what we try to do is in-- essentially ensure that the industry has a voice when it comes to not only creating amazing spaces but maintaining the spaces once the locations are open.
[00:23:21] Sid Shetty: And sometimes, you know, there are some brands that forget that every time a consumer walks in, that's one experience that they're either going to walk away from with a positive experience and say, "This brand, like, really cares about its consu- its customer," or they're gonna think that, you know, "This brand is kind of not taking care of its, of its locations, and what, what does that mean about what they think about me as the customer?"
[00:23:44] Sid Shetty: And it doesn't matter at that point if you're- Doesn't matter ... if they're a franchise location or a corporate-owned location. The customer doesn't care, right? Yeah. And so every day we try to, like, surface that and, and talk about how, how important it is to have every touch point that a customer has with the brand be perfect, right?
[00:24:01] Geoff Henry: Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean, if you think about just the, the fundamentals of hospitality and the overall experience, w-we like to simplify it for Gong cha to say, "Hey, look, if someone's gonna pay five dollars for a beverage, we don't want them walking into a two dollar store." Right. Like the, the- Yeah ... we want them to be walking into a store that feels like, "Hey, I could, I could be paying seven or or $9- That's right
[00:24:23] Geoff Henry: for this beverage, but they're only charging me five." That's right. Right? So like-
[00:24:25] Sid Shetty: That's right ...
[00:24:26] Geoff Henry: That's kind of, uh, the overall mentality of to make sure that the, the in-store experience, both in terms of how it's kind of coming together, but also the cleanliness, you know, is... Are some of the materials tired and, and worn and need to get replaced?
[00:24:39] Geoff Henry: Like, we want to make sure that all that is factored into the overall experience so that the value equation works well for the guest- Yeah ... and they come back. Because it doesn't matter how much marketing dollars you spend outside the store to drive awareness. If the in-store experience is lousy, it's gonna be tough to get them to come back.
[00:24:57] Sid Shetty: How do you choose the right franchise partner? You know, considering your entire brand hinges on great partners who, you know, will follow your procedures, follow your quality standards, and always represent the brand well, how do you ensure that, you know, you're selective of the franchise partners and, and how do you enter the right markets?
[00:25:19] Sid Shetty: Like, what, what is the process you follow to say, "We need to go into the market and then find a franchise partner," or do you find the franchise partner and then go into the markets that probably they are available in?
[00:25:29] Geoff Henry: I'll start first with, like, franchisee selection, and it kind of- Yeah ... uh, I think the US obviously has changed a lot in the last 20 years.
[00:25:35] Geoff Henry: You have a lot more large multi-unit, multi-brand operators. I think some people refer to them as MUMBOs. But, uh, there's also still plenty of folks who are just getting into the business and, and kind of opening one store, right? So we, we, we as a franchisor think about those two candidates a little bit differently.
[00:25:53] Geoff Henry: If you're a first-time franchisee, you know, we want to make sure that obviously you've got the, the, the financial ability to kind of open the location, and if things don't go great the first few months, you still have enough liquidity to make it through.
[00:26:07] Sid Shetty: Right.
[00:26:08] Geoff Henry: But beyond just the financial requirements, it's more about kind of the overall kind of attitude and the engagement of that franchisee, right?
[00:26:15] Geoff Henry: We ask them to kind of write a business plan. Like, why, why did they select Gong cha? You know, are they- Right ... gonna be in the store every day, or is this kind of a side business for them? You know, I find that early on, you... If it's a, if it's a small franchise group, there's gotta be somebody that's super passionate, that's super passionate about the brand, right?
[00:26:33] Geoff Henry: Yeah. And so if they've got the passion, then they can also inspire their team members that are gonna be working in that store to deliver that great experience, right? So you gotta have somebody in that organization that is just bleeds the brand.
[00:26:48] Sid Shetty: Yeah.
[00:26:48] Geoff Henry: And you know, we, we've got franchisees, for instance, who just are opening up a store in, uh, just outside of Portland, Maine.
[00:26:56] Geoff Henry: And they would drive, like, two and a half hours at least once a month down to Boston to get Gong cha, and they finally said to themselves, "Hey, why are we doing this? Why don't we just open up our own Gong cha?" And they were already in the restau- they were already in the restaurant injures, industry.
[00:27:08] Geoff Henry: So they had the passion. They also had the experience and the financial ability, I think, to be successful. So one, I think on the smaller side of franchise groups, y- you need the passion, and you need obviously the, the financial knowledge and, and know-how. On the larger kind of MUMBO is the multi-unit larger brand operators.
[00:27:25] Geoff Henry: You know, there it's basically, you know, Gong cha is a brand that can help them diversify their portfolio, and so therefore who within their organization is gonna be the brand manager per se? You know, who's gonna be the one that's responsible for overseeing, you know, the performance of our stores? 'Cause they may end up having ten, 20, 30 Gong cha in a market, and so we need to make sure that they have the organizational structure so that we're not lost in the shuffle of their broader portfolio.
[00:27:51] Sid Shetty: Gotcha.
[00:27:51] Geoff Henry: So, so that's kind of like how we think about the selection. In terms of markets, yes. We basically have prioritized markets, then we're obviously actively selling into those markets. And then, you know, once we find a franchisee that, you know, uh, fits the bill, we then work with them on finding a specific site that we think will be suitable.
[00:28:09] Sid Shetty: All right. Fascinating. Now you've been around for 10 years in the US, right? And, and you know, of course, longer time globally. Yeah. So help us understand, like what did COVID do to your growth plans? And, you know, there's this... especially in our business, there's this, there's this like pre-COVID and then post-COVID era when, you know, many brands changed how they looked at design.
[00:28:32] Sid Shetty: They, you know, example, drive-throughs made a big comeback, you know, in COVID and, you know, in the post-COVID world. Like, it's very much common practice to have drive-throughs now, right? Has that changed how you've designed your kitchens and designed your front of house, you've designed your spaces? Because consumers today are interacting with brands in a lot more ways than just the in-store dining experience, right?
[00:28:58] Sid Shetty: They're using third-party apps. They're using, you know, your own kiosk. They're, they're, they are using drive-throughs. How did COVID influence your strategy?
[00:29:08] Geoff Henry: So Gong cha actually performed really well during COVID in the sense of people that, you know, love our brand, love our beverage. It's kind of a comfort, right?
[00:29:18] Geoff Henry: It, it, it's a pleasure that kind of helps soothe them, and obviously COVID was a very stressful time for everybody. And so, uh, we had a l- a lot of strong sales during COVID. You know, funny fact is that if you've ever had bubble tea, you know, the tapioca pearls that are kind of in, in the beverage, they're chewy, right?
[00:29:34] Geoff Henry: Yeah. And so you're kind of, you're, you're drinking a tea, you're chewing on the pearls, and that chewing effect, it actually s- is provides like soothing sensations to the brain. And so, like y- that's why a lot of students love to kind of drink bubble tea while they're studying because it, they got the caffeine uplift to study, but they're chewing and it's kind of calming them down as they're studying.
[00:29:52] Geoff Henry: So same effect during COVID. People were stressed. They would go, you know, enjoy our bubble tea during that stressful time. And so that really helped us. In terms of how our business pivoted, you know, certainly we started to lean more into digital, right? Like our third-party sales really started to take off during COVID.
[00:30:09] Geoff Henry: Mobile app ordering started to become obviously more common. And I think importantly, just the ability to reduce the size of, of stores as well, right? Because certainly during early COVID, no one was doing really in, in-store dining. And with the continued rise of drive-throughs in the US, more and more people are getting comfortable eating or drinking in their cars, so-
[00:30:30] Sid Shetty: Yeah
[00:30:30] Geoff Henry: you just don't need as much typically seating in, in the store environment. And that's true for us as well. Even, you know, even though we offer kiosk locations in malls that have zero seating, in the locations where we have seating, like historically, we might have said, "Hey, go find a location, you know, with 1,200 to 1,400 square feet."
[00:30:47] Geoff Henry: Now we're saying to franchisees, "You don't need that much space. You know, 800 to 1,000 is probably gonna be sufficient." So that's also been kind of, uh, a transition in large part that started during COVID and has now continued into our Gung Cha 2.0 design.
[00:31:00] Sid Shetty: Interesting. Are there any macro trends you're seeing, you know, when it comes to just food and the beverage industry as a whole?
[00:31:09] Sid Shetty: You know, 'cause i- if you look at the, the kind of options that exist, like every time you think there's so many choices, there could not possibly be one more category created in this beverage, you know, or in this, you know, type of food, there comes five more, right? And they're successful. Uh, so what is, what is driving that, and are there any macro trends you're seeing that, you know, you think will discontinue?
[00:31:34] Geoff Henry: Yeah, I, I, I think the pace of innovation is just accelerating, you know. Yeah. And, you know, the barriers to entry for many different kind of categories are, are getting lower, right? You don't necessarily need to have as much scale or capital as you used to to open a business. And then I think just the power of social media has really just changed the landscape because people obviously are...
[00:31:57] Geoff Henry: particularly our core guests, you know, are very much engaged in social media on their phones, uh, a number of hours throughout the day and digesting a lot of that visual stimulation with innovation. So innovation, creating new news, the pace of that is, is just rapidly increasing. You know, as an example, our business in Japan is one of our best markets.
[00:32:16] Geoff Henry: And in Japan, when they do, like, a limited time offering in Japan, if, if they don't achieve more than twenty percent sales mix from that limited time item, it's considered a failure. Meaning, like, everybody in Japan feels like they need to go out and try that product, because if they don't, they feel like they, they missed out, right?
[00:32:35] Sid Shetty: Mm.
[00:32:35] Geoff Henry: And I think there's becoming more of that sensation in the US, like the, the, the innovation and creating new news and sharing it on social media. People are feeling like they gotta, they gotta get... go out and try it and be able to kinda tell their friends that they tried it. It doesn't mean that there's gonna be a big shift in terms of how businesses, where their sales are coming from.
[00:32:55] Geoff Henry: You know, for us, we're pretty consistent in terms of what are our top ten beverages. You know, even if we have a limited time item, it might, you know, drive, you know, five to eight percent of sales or ten percent if it's doing great. But it's more about the innovation that creates the news that gets kind of the PR and the attention that helps build the brand, and I think that macro trend is, is here to stay just in terms of the power of innovation and social media brands are, are tapping into to, to get the attention.
[00:33:22] Sid Shetty: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Do you think we'll see more and more technology make its way into, you know, these, these physical spaces, and these experiences will become, you know, they, they say phygital, right? Like the physical and digital combined experience.
[00:33:39] Sid Shetty: Do you think that we'll see more of that across more types of categories? I mean, you're clearly, you know, ahead of the curve in terms of not only how you're, you know, creating digital experiences for, for the ordering experience, but also in actually creating the product, right?
[00:33:54] Geoff Henry: The answer I think is yes.
[00:33:55] Geoff Henry: I think in terms of what does that form take, you know, I don't know. I mean, certainly just obviously AI unto itself is gonna rapidly change businesses and, uh, you know, how that manifests into the, the store environment, you know, will vary based upon brand and category. You know, certainly for us, you know, getting that introduced into our, our menu and because again, like ninety percent of our orders are, are digital, so it's very easy to kind of start to tap into that to make suggestive sales, to guess about things that they will either wanna add to their, their drink or perhaps try a new drink based upon their historical preferences.
[00:34:32] Geoff Henry: So I think the short answer is yes, I think it's gonna change. And I also think that just given, particularly in like s- suburban America, where drive-throughs have become more and more common because people just really enjoy the comfort of their vehicle, I think that's gonna continue to impact how fast casual and QSR concepts are, are designed, you know.
[00:34:53] Geoff Henry: Yeah. Exactly how that's gonna impact it, I think is, you know, to be determined, other than to say that probably, again, you're not gonna need as much space for a restaurant as you used to, which then will impact, I think, how landlords think about, you know, creating their spaces in terms of- Yeah ... how much space do they need for a tenant.
[00:35:12] Geoff Henry: You know, as they think about their own mix of tenants, restaurants, and other kind of, uh, uh, lifestyle offerings, it's like I think it's gonna start to change how just raw real estate is, is designed.
[00:35:23] Sid Shetty: Interesting. And, you know, as we kind of wrap up our conversation, as you look to the future, like what does the consumer of tomorrow look like, and, and what are they gonna continue to expect from the brands that they love?
[00:35:36] Sid Shetty: Are they going to always, you know, anchor on, "We need new things, and we need to see new products, and we want our brands that we love to be, to be fresh," or are consumers gonna say, "We, we wanna actually feel some sense of nostalgia. Like, we want to see consistency and comfort in the things that we know will always be there when we wanna go and, and, and have, you know, a certain type of beverage or food"?
[00:36:02] Geoff Henry: You know, I think the consumer of tomorrow is already, they're already here, right? It's just, it's just- Mm ... basically how, how are we gonna continue to evolve, you know, in terms of how we think five years out, ten years out, twenty years out? And I think a lot of those macro trends are... They're already here, they're just gonna continue to grow and accelerate.
[00:36:19] Geoff Henry: I think we live in a, a, a bipolar world, right? Where people want the comfort food, but they also i- in some cases, want to be thinking more about wellness. You know? So, like-
[00:36:28] Sid Shetty: Right ...
[00:36:29] Geoff Henry: “Hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna eat well and, and drink well for five days a week. But then on, you know, Saturday and Sunday, I'm just gonna do whatever I want.”
[00:36:35] Geoff Henry: Like, I think that's, that's how a lot of people think. Yeah. And I don't think that's gonna change. I think people are getting smarter, more educated. You know, the internet is a wonderful thing. And so I think the, the wellness trends, which is good for Gong cha, 'cause, you know, we're serving tea, which is, you know, obviously a, a very healthy beverage with antioxidants and, you know, it's been around for centuries, so that's a good thing.
[00:36:55] Geoff Henry: But I think the wellness trend will continue to influence how kind of people dine and eat. But at the same time, you know, people are also gonna be looking for comfort on a regular basis. So-
[00:37:04] Sid Shetty: Yeah ...
[00:37:04] Geoff Henry: I think the trends are here, they're just gonna continue to grow.
[00:37:07] Sid Shetty: I love it. So, you know, Geoff, what's next for Gong cha?
[00:37:10] Sid Shetty: What can consumers expect? What can our audience expect in terms of your growth plans and where they'll see the next Gong cha location?
[00:37:18] Geoff Henry: Yeah. So you know, Gong cha, we've got very aggressive growth plans for the Americas and for the US. You know, today in the US, we've got about 240 locations. We anticipate having over 1,000 locations, uh, in the next five years.
[00:37:33] Sid Shetty: Wow.
[00:37:34] Geoff Henry: We're starting to really roll out these, uh, these Gong cha 2.0 stores. They've got kind of bright red facades, inviting interiors, and so we're- we'll be kind of opening a bunch of those both in New York and Southern California this summer. So that's where people can start to s- see and, and feel kind of the new look.
[00:37:51] Geoff Henry: And then many of our kind of franchisees will start to open those stores as well later this fall. And we're gonna start to do some fun things like licensing. You might start to see Gong cha proudly served inside other concepts, like other Asian concepts that wanna tap into the, the bubble tea phenomenon and, and, and select the, the leading bubble tea brand out there.
[00:38:09] Geoff Henry: You might find yourself going to, you know, uh, a ramen shop or a, a f- a chicken shop and having, uh, Gong cha on the menu. So I think you can... You'll start to see the brand popping up in, um, in a number of ways. And quite confident that if you haven't heard about Gong cha yet, or even bubble tea or boba, depending upon your age, that certainly in the next couple years you'll get familiar with both.
[00:38:30] Sid Shetty: I love it. Well, Geoff, this was a fascinating conversation. Thank you so much for joining us. For listeners who wanna learn more about you, where can they find you?
[00:38:39] Geoff Henry: Yeah. So certainly you can find me on LinkedIn. And if you're looking for the, the brand, obviously, uh, we're on Instagram, GongChaTea.
[00:38:46] Geoff Henry: We're also, for the brand, on LinkedIn, for Gong cha Global. So again, a number of ways to find both me and the brand.
[00:38:52] Sid Shetty: Love it. Well, with that, again, I just wanna say a huge thank you. Really appreciate you being on the show. And for all in our audience, thank you so much for joining us, and I'll see you on the next episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar.
[00:39:03] Sid Shetty: Well, that was Geoff Henry, President of the Americas at Gong cha. What stood out to me today was how much intentionality goes into scaling a modern consumer brand while also staying true to your roots. From franchise partnerships and store design to customer experience and operational efficiency, they all have a huge role to play in how a brand delivers on their brand promise.
[00:39:32] Sid Shetty: Geoff shared how today's consumers are looking for more than just a product. They want personalization, experiences, convenience, and the human connection. And as brands continue expanding across markets and geos and channels, balancing consistency with innovation becomes more important than ever. With that, I'm your host, Sid Shetty, and I'll see you on the next episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar.