Gong Cha is going big in Texas.
The bubble tea brand, which operates nearly 2,200 locations worldwide, on Monday said that it has signed a 50-unit development deal with Bakers Acres & Cattle Company, or BACC.
It’s the largest direct franchising deal in the chain’s history and continues the brand’s U.S. growth. It follows Gong Cha’s recent acquisition of master franchise rights to 170 U.S. stores, including Texas, which brought the territory in-house.
Geoff Henry, president of Gong Cha Americas, said that the company is “seeing strong interest from multi-unit operators looking to grow with the global leader.”
“Franchisees are looking for concepts with operational simplicity, strong consumer demand and the ability to scale efficiently at relatively low cost,” Henry said in a statement. “Gong Cha delivers on all these.”
BACC is a Houston-based business that has been franchising since 2015. It operates Nothing Bundt Cakes in Houston. The operator will develop Gong Cha locations over the next seven years in Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas.
Gong Cha is part of a growing group of beverage chains, including those that specialize in bubble tea. The chain finished 2025 with 241 U.S. locations and nearly $94 million in system sales. Those sales rose 5.6% last year, according to data from Technomic.