After entering the era of 10,000 stores, new-style tea beverage enterprises attach greater importance to the quality of individual stores.

On August 28, as ChaPanda released its 2026 interim performance announcement, six listed new tea beverage companies have successively delivered their first-half results this year. In addition to Mixue Group (02097.HK), Guming (01364.HK) and Auntie Shanghai (02589.HK) have also entered the era of 10,000 stores.

The number of stores is still expanding, and most of the revenue has maintained growth, but the growth rate of each company has diverged significantly. Mixue Group continues to rank first in scale; Auntie Shanghai has the highest revenue growth rate, reaching 42.4%; the revenue growth rates of Bawangchaji (CHA.O), ChaPanda (02555.HK) and Mixue Group have dropped to single digits; Nayuki's Tea's revenue decreased by 13.1% year-on-year.

If only looking at the number of stores, the expansion of new tea beverage brands has not stopped. However, what most companies are discussing is no longer "how many more stores to open", but how to sell one more cup in existing stores and let franchisees make profits. After entering the era of 10,000 stores, the quality of individual stores is being placed in a more important position.

Interim Report Ranking: Guming Overtakes, Auntie Shanghai Catches Up

In terms of revenue, Mixue Group achieved a revenue of 152.16 billion yuan in the first half of the year, leading by a large margin.

The second place has changed: Guming reached 74.7 billion yuan, surpassing Bawangchaji's 69.61 billion yuan. After that, ChaPanda and Auntie Shanghai achieved revenues of 26.55 billion yuan and 25.89 billion yuan respectively, with a gap of less than 100 million yuan between the two; Nayuki's Tea ranked sixth with 18.93 billion yuan.

The profit ranking is generally consistent with the revenue ranking. Mixue Group recorded a profit of 23.19 billion yuan for the period in the first half of the year, followed by Guming, and Bawangchaji ranked third with a net profit of about 9.1 billion yuan, while ChaPanda and Auntie Shanghai recorded 3.45 billion yuan and 3.21 billion yuan respectively. Nayuki's Tea still ranks at the bottom and has not yet turned losses into profits, with an adjusted net loss of about 97 million yuan, but the loss has narrowed compared with the same period of the previous year.

In terms of growth rate, Auntie Shanghai and Guming rank at the top. Auntie Shanghai's revenue increased by 42.4% year-on-year, and its profit for the period increased by 58.3%. Regarding the growth in the first half of the year, Wang Juan, Secretary of the Board of Auntie Shanghai, told the Economic Observer reporter that the growth mainly benefits from the scale effect formed by the multi-brand strategy and the steady expansion of the store network relying on differentiated brand layout, as well as the continuous enrichment of product matrix, deepening of refined operation management, optimization of existing store operations, and promotion of the improvement of both quality and efficiency of the supply chain.

In contrast, the revenue growth rates of Mixue Group, Bawangchaji and ChaPanda have all dropped to single digits. Among them, Mixue Group achieved a revenue growth of 2.3%, and its profit for the period decreased by 14.7%. Regarding the pressure on profits, Cui Haijing, financial head of Mixue Group, said that the revenue side maintained steady growth, while the profit side faced phased pressure due to investment in supply chain upgrading, store operation capacity improvement and brand IP (brand image label) construction. These investments have affected the group's profits in the short term, but are consolidating the foundation for long-term competition.

Bawangchaji defines 2026 as the "year of adjustment and stabilization". Huang Hongfei, Global CFO of Bawangchaji, said that although the revenue growth rate has slowed down, the business strategy established by the company earlier this year will not change, and the improvement of cost structure and organizational efficiency is sustainable.

Three Companies Have Entered the Era of 10,000 Stores

In 2026, all new tea beverage companies are still actively opening new stores.

As of the end of June, Mixue Group had 63,987 stores worldwide. Talking about the business focus after the expansion of scale, Zhang Yuan, CEO of Mixue Group, said: "This volume means that any negligence in any link may be amplified by the scale; but conversely, any small optimization can also release huge value."

Guming and Auntie Shanghai reached 14,351 and 13,155 stores respectively. So far, 3 of the 6 listed new tea beverage companies have crossed the threshold of 10,000 stores. ChaPanda and Bawangchaji have 8,863 and 7,639 stores respectively, and Nayuki's Tea has 1,685 stores.

But the other side of the milk tea business lies in the operation quality of individual stores. The number of stores can be expanded by continuous opening, while the daily sales of individual stores and the profitability of franchisees can more directly reflect the operating conditions. According to the disclosed data, the performance of individual stores of the 6 companies is not consistent.

Guming's performance is relatively stable. In the first half of the year, its average daily GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) per store increased from 7,600 yuan to 7,800 yuan, and the average daily number of cups sold per store increased from 439 to 440. Guming stated in its financial report that the increase in coffee categories and the expansion of breakfast scenarios have partially offset the impact of the reduction in subsidies from third-party food delivery platforms.

Then look at several companies under pressure. The management of Mixue Group admitted that the average turnover of main brand stores recorded a double-digit decline in the first half of the year, which was affected by the high base formed by food delivery subsidies last year, as well as the intensified industry competition and the fact that internal upgrading has not yet fully taken effect. In response to this, Ma Junwei, CEO of Mixue Bingcheng China Region, said: "In the first half of the year, consumers did not really feel the substantive upgrading changes on the product side, which is a problem of time difference, not a problem of direction."

Bawangchaji's overall same-store GMV in the second quarter decreased by 16.1% year-on-year, and the average monthly GMV per store in Greater China dropped to 338,000 yuan. The average daily sales per store of Nayuki's Tea decreased from 7,600 yuan to 7,000 yuan, and the average daily order volume and average order value also decreased simultaneously.

Zhang Yuan, CEO of Mixue Group, said that slowing down the opening of new stores in China does not mean slowing down growth. At the same time, Mixue Bingcheng will devote more resources and energy to the operation support and efficiency improvement of existing stores.

Guming is raising the standards for new store site selection while renovating or relocating old stores. Auntie Shanghai said that it will coordinate store management on the premise of "prioritizing quality and realizing a profitable individual store model".

Where Does the Increment of Individual Stores Come From

Then, where does the increment of individual stores come from? From the financial reports and statements at performance meetings of various companies, they have adopted a variety of strategies: adding product categories, expanding breakfast and afternoon tea scenarios, optimizing the location of old stores, and promoting supply chain and digital transformation.

First look at coffee. More than 90% of Guming's stores are equipped with coffee machines. In the first half of the year, 12 new coffee products were launched, and coffee revenue accounted for more than 20% of the total revenue. The management of Guming hopes to further increase this proportion to 25% to 30% in the future, and pilot breakfast baking products in more than 1,000 stores, aiming to connect coffee with breakfast scenarios.

However, the management of Guming does not regard coffee as a "magic pill". It said frankly at the performance meeting: "In fact, we do not have a one-size-fits-all solution that can reverse all situations with a single trick." Guming hopes that coffee, breakfast, in-store dining improvement and old store optimization can all contribute a little, and gradually restore the profit of stores.

ChaPanda is also accelerating the layout of coffee. In the first half of the year, freshly ground coffee has covered about 30% of its domestic stores, and coffee sales in the second quarter accounted for more than 10% of the total cup volume. In addition to coffee, ChaPanda also launched 9 flavored iced milk products, with cumulative sales of more than 36 million cups. The management of ChaPanda proposed to "optimize the revenue structure of individual stores and improve the all-day sales performance" through the integration of tea and coffee and more adapted product categories.

Mixue Group is also trying to gain incremental benefits from coffee. Fresh milk, fresh short-preservation coffee beans and freshly ground coffee machines have entered more than 6,000 stores. According to the pilot data, the average performance of stores with coffee machines installed is better than the overall level. The management of Mixue Group introduced that the company has upgraded the store unloading method from "rear-of-car handover" to "door-to-door delivery" for free. Although it has increased the distribution cost to a certain extent, it better guarantees the quality of cold chain raw materials and effectively reduces the operation pressure of stores.

In addition to products, Mixue also focuses on store renovation and relocation. Ma Junwei said that the company actively screens stores whose average daily turnover in the past six months is lower than expected. "If it is judged that the problem is site selection rather than operation, we will help them relocate to a better location and provide appropriate subsidies to support franchisees. Relocation is an effective means to release the value of old stores again."

Auntie Shanghai said that in the future, it will strengthen the profitability of individual stores through high-quality and orderly store expansion; deepen the integration of tea and coffee with health as the main line; improve supply chain efficiency and deeply cultivate origin resources; continue to implement the differentiated multi-brand strategy; strengthen the full-process digital application to further improve the profitability of the company and its stores.

In addition to fresh fruit tea and fresh milk tea, Nayuki's Tea has added fruit and vegetable yogurt shakes, sandwiches, fruit coffee and other products, while continuing to adjust stores with poor operating performance.

Bawangchaji launched a total of 29 new products in the first half of the year, and expanded its product line to categories such as special tea drinks, lemon milk and geelato tea gelato. Among them, the offline GMV of geelato pilot stores increased by more than 20% on average.

For new tea beverage companies that have entered the era of 10,000 stores, the question to be answered in the next stage is not just how many more stores they can open, but how to make more stores operate for a longer time. As the management of Bawangchaji said, the more complex the market is, the more we need to "make good products, serve users well, and polish every store well".

The article is from the WeChat Official Account "Economic Observer", written by Zheng Yuxin and Fan Xinyi, and authorized for release by 36Kr.