This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on August 15, 2023.
On August 15, 2023, ChaPanda submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, adding another Chinese freshly made tea chain to the IPO pipeline. Mixue Bingcheng had previously planned an A-share listing, though market talk later suggested that plan had stalled and could shift toward Hong Kong.
ChaPanda opened its first store in Chengdu in 2008. As of the latest practicable date disclosed in the prospectus, the brand had 7,117 stores in China, only six of which were directly operated.
The company said it planned to expand its store network in domestic and overseas markets. FoodBud noted market talk that ChaPanda had sent a team to Southeast Asia for research in the first half of 2023.
In 2022, ChaPanda’s store-level retail sales exceeded approximately RMB 13.3 billion.
ChaPanda’s revenue rose from RMB 1.08 billion in 2020 to RMB 4.23 billion in 2022. Net profit for 2022 was RMB 960 million.
The 2022 retail sales base of RMB 13.3 billion breaks down into nearly 800 million cups sold across 470 million orders. Average order value was RMB 28.6.
In 2022, ChaPanda developed nearly 300 products, launched close to 43 new products, and upgraded the recipes of nine classic products.
In Q1 2023, the average ChaPanda store carried 35 drink SKUs. Classic products accounted for about 60% of SKUs. Several classic items, including Yangzhi Ganlu, signature taro-ball milk tea, and jasmine milk green tea, each sold more than 60 million cups in 2022.
Specific 2022 product figures included:
According to the prospectus, ChaPanda ranked third in China’s freshly made tea market by 2022 retail sales. Mixue Bingcheng ranked first, and GoodMe ranked second.
FoodBud noted that GoodMe generated RMB 13.9 billion in 2022 retail sales from 6,700 stores across only 180 cities, while ChaPanda covered 321 cities.
As of the end of June 2023, ChaPanda had more than 66 million registered members. In Q2 2023, active members reached 16.7 million, with a repeat-purchase rate of 32.8%.
During Q2 2023, 32.8% of active members made repeat purchases through ChaPanda’s WeChat mini program.
Most ChaPanda stores were between 30 and 100 square meters. As of the end of March 2023, 44.9% of stores were 3-49 square meters, while 40.5% were 50-100 square meters.
Delivery coverage increased from 86% in January 2020 to 97.5% in March 2023. Delivery’s share of transaction value rose from 47.6% in January 2020 to 58% in 2023.
FoodBud noted that ChaPanda had previously been discussed in capital markets at a valuation of RMB 20 billion. Some observers questioned whether that was expensive, while others focused on the chain’s high delivery mix and whether Meituan would be a more natural investor, or whether Meituan’s actions could materially affect ChaPanda’s performance.
As of the end of March 2023, ChaPanda’s warehousing network included 22 high-standard warehouses with a total area of about 80,000 square meters, consisting of 17 central warehouses and five forward warehouses.
The company had unified procurement and distribution for core fruit categories across most stores. For selected fruits including honey peaches, Tainong mangoes, and Summer Black grapes, ChaPanda also signed direct purchase agreements with high-quality production regions in China to secure long-term bulk supply from origin.
ChaPanda operated with a fleet of about 300 multi-temperature vehicles from third-party mobile service providers, capable of delivering fresh materials to thousands of stores daily.
As of March 31, 2023, ChaPanda had launched nine night-delivery routes in Beijing, Chengdu, and Chongqing. As of the same date, it provided delivery at least twice per week to about 92% of stores, reducing in-transit material loss and supporting fresh, high-quality raw-material supply.
ChaPanda had 2,580 franchisees as of December 31, 2020; 4,634 as of December 31, 2021; 5,396 as of December 31, 2022; and 5,591 as of March 31, 2023.
The number of franchisees operating more than one store was 63, 129, 363, and 444 at those same dates.
A new ChaPanda store typically required 60-100 days from franchisee screening to official opening. Based on historical records, only about 4% of franchisee candidates passed ChaPanda’s screening and became franchisees. Franchisees were required to spend at least 130 hours per month in-store.
For 2020, 2021, 2022, and the three months ended March 31, 2023, purchases from ChaPanda’s five largest suppliers accounted for 41.6%, 29.5%, 37.4%, and 41.4% of total purchases, respectively.
Purchases from the largest supplier accounted for 12.0%, 10.0%, 11.6%, and 12.9% of total purchases in those same periods.
Note: IPO, valuation, expansion-plan, and forward-looking figures are historical disclosures from the August 2023 article and prospectus context.