Gong cha has signed a 50-unit exclusive area development agreement with Bakers Acres & Cattle Company (BACC), a Houston-based multi-generational family franchise group — the largest direct franchising deal in the bubble tea brand's history. New locations are planned across Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas over a seven-year development window.
The agreement lands just months after Gong cha acquired master franchise rights to 170 U.S. locations across 13 states, a move that shifted the nearly 2,200-unit global brand toward accelerated domestic expansion. With more than 240 units already operating across 23 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, the Texas deal signals how aggressively the company is leaning into multi-unit development agreements as its primary U.S. growth engine.
Why Texas, Why Now
Texas has consistently ranked among the most active states for franchise development, and Gong cha is betting that four of its largest metros can absorb significant bubble tea density. Geoff Henry, President of Gong cha Americas, pointed to the brand's operational model as a key draw for experienced operators. "Franchisees are looking for concepts with operational simplicity, strong consumer demand and the ability to scale efficiently at relatively low cost, and Gong cha delivers on all of these," Henry said. The brand's Gong cha 2.0 platform — which integrates digital ordering, automation, and optimized store design — is central to that pitch, promising higher throughput and improved unit economics for incoming franchisees tracking QSR and fast-casual beverage trends.
The Operator Behind the Deal
BACC brings a disciplined track record to the partnership. The company entered franchising in 2015 with Nothing Bundt Cakes and has built a bakery operation across Greater Houston, moving toward a 12-bakery platform while consistently outperforming systemwide averages. Led by Brett and Wendi Walker and the next generation of family operators, BACC brings expertise across finance, real estate, technology, and business development — exactly the profile Gong cha says it targets for large-area development agreements.
"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."
Scaling a National Platform
Since launching direct franchising in the U.S. approximately 24 months ago, Gong cha has closed significant multi-unit deals in Texas, California, Massachusetts, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Puerto Rico, among other markets. The brand has been ranked No. 1 in the Tea category on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500® for five consecutive years, a credential that carries weight with the sophisticated multi-unit operators it courts.
For beverage-forward franchise operators watching the specialty drinks and bubble tea segment mature, the BACC deal illustrates how established franchisees from adjacent categories — in this case, bakery — are increasingly pivoting toward premium non-alcoholic beverage concepts as a diversification play. Gong cha is on record targeting more than 500 locations in the Americas by 2028, and Texas, with its population density across multiple Tier 1 metros, is clearly central to hitting that number.
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.
