Gong cha has inked a 50-unit exclusive area development agreement in Texas 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 will be built across Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas over a seven-year development window.
The agreement lands roughly 24 months after Gong cha began its direct U.S. franchising push and follows the brand's acquisition of master franchise rights covering 170 existing U.S. locations across 13 states, including Texas. The chain now operates more than 240 locations across 23 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, and has publicly targeted a 500-unit Americas footprint by 2028.
The Operator Profile
BACC entered franchising in 2015 through Nothing Bundt Cakes and has since scaled to a multi-bakery platform across Greater Houston, consistently outperforming systemwide averages. Led by Brett and Wendi Walker and the next generation of family operators, the group brings in-house capability across real estate, finance and technology — the operational depth Gong cha is explicitly targeting as it recruits multi-unit partners.
"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."
Geoff Henry, President of Gong cha Americas, framed the deal in terms that will resonate with operators evaluating dispensed-beverage and specialty-drink concepts: flexible footprint, an efficient labor model and a relatively low cost to scale. "Franchisees are looking for concepts with operational simplicity, strong consumer demand and the ability to scale efficiently," Henry said.
Texas and the Broader Build-Out
Texas is a natural staging ground. The state consistently ranks among the top U.S. markets for franchise growth and foodservice expansion, driven by population gains in its four largest metros and a consumer base that has shown durable appetite for premium dispensed beverages — a category that has broadly outpaced center-store at convenience and QSR alike.
Gong cha has signed multi-unit development agreements across Texas, California, Massachusetts, Arizona, Wisconsin and Puerto Rico since beginning direct franchising efforts. The brand's updated Gong cha 2.0 platform underpins the expansion, incorporating digital ordering, automation and optimized store design intended to drive higher throughput and improve franchisee-level economics.
For the specialty-beverage and tea segment, the deal is a signal of continued category momentum. Bubble tea has moved from niche to mainstream over the past five years, attracting multi-unit operators who previously focused on QSR or bakery formats. Gong cha has held the No. 1 ranking in the Tea category on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 list for five consecutive years, giving it the brand credibility that experienced development groups look for before committing to large area agreements.
With 50 committed units in a single state and a seven-year runway, BACC's agreement will stress-test Gong cha's supply chain, real estate pipeline and training infrastructure across four distinct metro markets simultaneously — a meaningful operational undertaking for any emerging franchise system scaling at this pace.
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.
