Taiwanese bubble tea franchise Chatime is embarking on a period of rapid global growth, forecasting 30 new stores to be launched annually for the next three years in Australia alone. The plan, according to Chatime Australia chief executive Carlos Antonius, is to hit 250 stores by 2025.Additionally, the Australian business is taking control of the business’ New Zealand and United States operations after years of outperforming global growth rates, even through the pandemic. “The pandemic really identified the strong performing brands, whether in our sector or across other categories – brands that couldn’t survive went by the wayside, which is unfortunate, but it enables stronger performing brands to capture more market share,” Antonius told Inside Retail. The bubble tea market has been growing for years, and is poised to be worth US$3.4 billion by 2027, according to data from Fortune Business Insights. One of Chatime’s largest competitors, Sharetea, has over 100 stores along Australia’s eastern seaboard, while Chatime has approximately 150 nationwide.In the next few months, Chatime Australia will take over the business’ New Zealand and United States operations. Up until recently, these markets were owned and operated by the business’ global parent company, La Kaffa Coffee.“We see New Zealand as a wonderful market opportunity, and we already see a number of global bubble tea operators in that space and performing really well, so it gives us a lot of insight into the market,” Antonius said. “With that said, the United States bubble tea market has seen significant growth and there’s a lot of [private equity] interest in the category there. We’ll be opening our first three corporate locations in Los Angeles in Q2 next year, and will expand from there.”Chatime already has 26 stores across the US which will be brought under Chatime Australia as the year rolls on, and which will provide firm insights into how different the business’  markets are. Taking tea onlineMuch of this expansion can be credited to the business’ growth locally. So, how has Chatime captured its market share? By reimagining the way consumers could interact with the brand.Throughout the pandemic, Chatime Australia has experimented with new ways of serving its customers: from launching DIY Boba Tea kits in Woolworths, allowing customers to purchase and make their own variations of the drink, to partnering with UberEats to get Boba Tea delivered to customers in their own homes. “[The DIY kits] are performing really well for us, and opens up another opportunity for growth through the grocery sector,” Antonius said. “By doing that, we’re encouraging customers that may be first-time users to download our app to help them to make their tea, and which offers discounted products should they visit one of our locations so that we can deliver the bricks-and-mortar experience while also capturing that customer data.”These DIY kits will be integral to the success of the business’ upcoming e-commerce launch, which will also offer branded merchandise and click-and-collect ordering for local stores, as well as future FMCG products. The website, as well as the business’ mainstay bricks-and-mortar channel and its loyalty program anchored by a mobile app, will be key players in Chatime’s omnichannel focus moving forward, Antonius said.The loyalty app played a strong role in the success of the brand throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Antonius said, as it enabled customers to order and pay for their product without entering stores.Will the bubble burst?Although the business offers discretionary products, Chatime isn’t overly concerned with its customers’ changing spending habits — in fact, these new habits have fueled heavy investment in the business’ digital offer following the Covid-19 pandemic. When reflecting on whether consumers are likely to tighten their belts and cut spending as interest rates rise, Antonius said he is quite bullish in his belief that Chatime isn’t in any danger. “Our demographic is between 14 and 29 years old. [They] are a bit more isolated from economic challenges around things like mortgages and interest rates,” Antonius said. In fact, that demographic has actually seen an increase in disposable income,  and has maintained their spending power, thanks to the recent increase in the minimum wage.“For us, it all comes back to our value proposition, and ensuring that, from a brand perspective, we continue to lead the [bubble tea] category,” Antonius said.