Sowing, deep plowing, and localization: Cha Baidao is making steady progress overseas.
Author | Chen Xi
Shortly after officially expanding overseas, ChaPanda became one of the "fastest starters" in the industry. In the view of Wang Huan, the overseas CEO of ChaPanda, the brand's overseas expansion is still in the "precise seeding stage" at present. To achieve the goal of "becoming a global brand", it still needs to keep "taking small steps forward quickly".
Precise Seeding: The Way for the "Latecomer" to Break the Deadlock in Overseas Expansion
In 2025, the narrative of Chinese ready-to-drink tea brands expanding overseas is becoming more diverse and three-dimensional.
It can be a story of "scale expansion" - leading brands leveraging their first-mover advantage to expand on a large scale; or a story of "in-depth development in a single point" - some brands anchoring more than half of their overseas stores in a single market to develop it thoroughly; or a story of "brand upgrading" - some players focusing on the European and American markets to target high-end customer groups.
Although the stories vary, if we peel off the differentiated narratives, the overseas expansion paths of leading brands actually share the following commonalities: Most of them started their overseas expansion around 2019 and only accelerated the pace in 2022; they generally took Southeast Asia as the "first-step springboard" and then gradually penetrated into global markets such as Europe and America; even the brand with the most countries covered took seven years to enter 12 countries.
ChaPanda may be a relatively special case. It officially expanded overseas in 2024 and chose South Korea, which is not a popular destination, as its first stop. If we compare the speed of ChaPanda, the "latecomer", with that of leading brands in the first two years of their overseas expansion horizontally, ChaPanda is definitely one of the "fastest starters".
Data source: Public information
Where does this speed of "arriving first despite starting late" come from? Let's first take a look at South Korea, ChaPanda's first overseas stop.
Choosing South Korea instead of Southeast Asia, ChaPanda took a "counter-consensus" first step in its overseas expansion. Even more unexpectedly, its first store in South Korea was not located in an area where Chinese people gather, but opened in Gangnam District - a high-end business district where local Koreans flock.
The underlying logic of these choices, which were regarded as "bold moves" by the industry at that time, was to achieve localization faster. Facts have proved that this move was right.
In just two years, the number of ChaPanda's signed stores in South Korea has exceeded 20, and franchising was officially opened in June this year. "It is expected that 50 stores will open in South Korea next year," revealed Wang Huan, the overseas CEO of ChaPanda.
Customers queuing up to buy drinks at a ChaPanda store in South Korea
Currently, more than 70% of the consumers at ChaPanda's stores in South Korea are local customers, and the repurchase rate is as high as 45% - this localization ratio ranks among the top in the cases of global new tea drink brands expanding overseas. Also, because of its deep roots in the local market, after franchising was opened in South Korea in June this year, most of the franchisees attracted by ChaPanda were local Koreans.
Wang Huan also mentioned that just three months after franchising was opened, some South Korean franchisees chose to open a second or more stores. "At present, the payback period of our store model in South Korea is nearly twice as fast as that of local chain brands."
While the South Korean market has become a "benchmark sample", ChaPanda's global layout is "blooming in multiple points", and its tentacles are accelerating to extend to regions such as Southeast Asia and Europe and America.
In September this year, ChaPanda's first store in France opened in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, becoming the first brand among Chinese listed ready-to-drink tea companies to enter France. The opening immediately detonated the local market, with the monthly sales exceeding 1 million yuan in the first month, and even the deputy mayor of Paris visited the store in person to express his affirmation. Wang Huan said that after the success of the first store was verified, the second and third stores in Paris are also being prepared simultaneously and will open soon.
The grand opening of ChaPanda's first store in France
On November 3rd, ChaPanda officially announced its layout in the Vietnamese market - the first store is in preparation. The overall population structure in Vietnam is relatively young, and young people have a strong consumption willingness. Moreover, the middle price range of the ready-to-drink beverage market in Vietnam is currently relatively empty. With the "pioneering" experience accumulated in other countries, the preparation efficiency of ChaPanda's first store in Vietnam is relatively high. Wang Huan expects that the store will meet local consumers in January next year.
The official announcement poster of ChaPanda's entry into Vietnam
Covering more than a dozen countries and regions in just two years, although ChaPanda is not a "pioneer" in overseas expansion, it has achieved a "small-step, fast-run" rhythm in the global market. Wang Huan attributes the underlying logic behind this to a clear overseas expansion strategy - "precise seeding and in-depth development".
How to understand "precise seeding"? In the early days of the overseas expansion of new tea drinks, there were both "fertile soil" and "dangerous swamps" in the overseas market. The currently successful regions were all explored by early overseas expansion brands through "sowing widely". Now that the era of wild growth has passed, the overseas "seeding" of leading brands is more planned and strategic.
"On the surface, we have entered more than a dozen countries and regions, but in fact, the cooperation requests we have received are far more than these. We will not rush into the market. ChaPanda only chooses regions with potential growth scale in the next 5 - 10 years to open stores," emphasized Wang Huan.
How to take root and grow into a forest after "precise seeding"? ChaPanda's solution is to "combine the first-mover and latecomer advantages". In regions such as Southeast Asia where the "basic education" of new tea drinks has been completed, it leverages the latecomer advantage to reduce trial-and-error costs and maximize efficiency; in regions such as South Korea and France where peers have not yet carried out in-depth development, it uses the first-mover advantage to quickly define industry standards, capture consumers' minds, and establish a "first-impression" cognitive barrier.
"The first store in Paris has brought both influence and revenue. We will take Paris as the center, continue to penetrate in France, and then gradually expand to the surrounding areas - this is a process from seeding to in-depth development," summarized Wang Huan.
One Strategy for One Region: Winning the Recognition of Local Users
Wang Huan admitted that the biggest challenge in overseas expansion lies in the differences between different countries - the economic levels, the acceptance of the tea drink market, and the price ranges are all different. It is difficult to replicate the same set of strategies in every region around the world.
If we compare the Southeast Asian market with the European and American markets, the former requires less asset investment and has a high penetration rate of tea drinks, which is suitable for dense store layout; the latter has high store opening costs, low penetration rate but strong consumption power, which is suitable for building brand potential with a high-profile approach. The two paths are completely different.
Moreover, there are many unexpected situations overseas. Although Wang Huan had mentally prepared for the strict food safety standards in South Korea before entering the market, the complexity of the inspections still caught the team off guard.
"The local standards are accurate to several decimal places. Even for some inspection items, the samples have to be air-freighted to South Korea for testing, which takes a month for a round trip." After six months of preparation, ChaPanda's first store in South Korea finally opened. However, Wang Huan said that because the transportation radius from South Korea to China is relatively short, the adjustment cost during the preparation stage is already relatively low. He has seen peer brands waiting for 10 months to open after the store decoration was completed because they did not meet the local food safety standards - such accidents are not uncommon in the overseas market.
This is just the explicit laws and regulations. The "hidden rules" in some countries are even more difficult and passive. Wang Huan mentioned that in some countries, sometimes the goods will be detained at the customs for a month after arriving at the warehouse. Without local supply chain resources, the brand has to bear high detention costs and warehousing costs.
Now, the overseas team of ChaPanda, which has operated in multiple countries, no longer "crosses the river by feeling the stones". Instead, it will conduct pre - investigation and market research earlier in combination with the local situation.
"Since the first day of overseas expansion, ChaPanda has adhered to the localization strategy. We believe that only by winning the recognition of local users can we truly succeed in overseas expansion," said Wang Huan. Taking the product side as an example, after continuous exploration, ChaPanda has sorted out three major sequences of overseas product structures at present. "The first category includes classic domestic best - selling products such as Mango Sago with Pomelo, Soy Milk with Milk Foam and QQ Balls, and Signature Taro Pearl Milk Tea. These three products rank among the top five in sales in any region of ChaPanda's global market."
The second category is differentiated products. ChaPanda has a comprehensive product line, including milk tea with toppings, light milk tea, fresh fruit tea, fruit and vegetable tea, and even yogurt. However, it is neither realistic to bring the entire product line overseas, nor will the supply chain become complicated. The ChaPanda team will select two or three differentiated products from the product line to enter the market according to local characteristics. However, overseas products also need to be wary of "excessive differentiation". Wang Huan gave an example. Fruit and vegetable tea was very popular in China last year, but when peer brands in the industry tried this type of product overseas, they found that the sales were mediocre. "The product iteration in China is relatively advanced, and overseas consumers don't understand it yet."
As for the third category, it is localized products. ChaPanda will launch customized menus "one strategy for one country" and develop products with local raw materials. For example, drinks made with Hallabong oranges are very popular among South Korean consumers. In addition, the R & D team will also readjust the product SOP in combination with the characteristics of local raw materials such as water quality, fruits, and dairy products.
The core supporting product innovation is the supply chain ability. ChaPanda chooses the strategy of "cross - border + local". Fresh milk and fresh fruits are purchased locally, while raw materials such as packaging materials and frozen products rely on ChaPanda's mature domestic supply chain system to quickly respond to the needs of global stores. Wang Huan revealed that ChaPanda can achieve daily delivery to stores in South Korea, and the operation cycle is very fast.
"In the future, we will continue to integrate the global supply chain, centralize scattered demands, and further improve efficiency," said Wang Huan.
Drinks at a ChaPanda store in Singapore
Abandoning "Vertical Strike": Becoming a True Global Brand
What stage has the overseas expansion of new tea drinks reached today?
It is not difficult to find that although new tea drink brands have achieved scale in Southeast Asia, the popularity of tea - drinking culture in Europe, America, and even the global market is far lower than that of coffee culture. The overseas expansion journey of leading brands still has a long way to go.
Currently, the domestic rankings of leading Chinese ready - to - drink tea brands have become relatively stable, and the overseas market has become one of the few variables. Wang Huan believes that brand overseas expansion requires a large amount of capital, resources, rich experience, and a strong supply chain ability - all these determine that the overseas expansion of new tea drinks is still a competition among leading players, although the rankings may change.
In Wang Huan's view, when facing the overseas market, the most important thing is to maintain a sense of awe and abandon the "vertical strike" thinking. "ChaPanda will adopt one strategy for one region according to different regional situations. In East Asia and Southeast Asia, where there is a foundation for milk tea, it will directly focus on local users for development; while in regions such as Europe and America, where the awareness of milk tea is relatively weak, it will take