Early 2025 saw a wave of Chinese tea chains going public. Goodme (古茗) and Mixue (蜜雪冰城) were listed at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) before CHAGEE (霸王茶姬) launched its IPO on the Nasdaq. And it seems we’ll be welcoming the fourth “New-style Chinese” tea chain to go public—Auntea Jenny (沪上阿姨)—this time, also at HKEX. It was reported on 23 April that the company had passed the listing hearing at HKEX, one step closer to being publicly listed.
Founded in 2013 in Shanghai, the “modern oriental” tea chain, as it calls itself, has received 4 rounds of funding since 2020. Auntea Jenny’s recent financial results have been encouraging as well. In 2023, its revenue jumped from 2.20 billion RMB (301.91 million USD) to 3.35 billion RMB (459.72 million USD), but in 2024, it saw a small drop in revenue to 3.29 billion RMB (451.49 million USD).
Auntea Jenny’s adjusted net profit continued growing from 154 million RMB (21.13 million USD) in 2022 to 416 million RMB (57.09 million USD) in 2023 and 418 million RMB (57.36 million USD) in 2024. However, the company’s net profit margin was at its highest in 2023 at 11.59%, lower than Mixue’s 15.7%, Goodme’s 17.4% and ChaPanda’s 22%. The chain is also steadily expanding its presence. As of 31 December 2024, there are 9,176 Auntea Jenny branches, 99% of which are operated by franchisees. Gross Merchandise Value (GMV)-wise, Auntea Jenny is the fastest-growing brand out of the top 5 tea chains in China.
With data showing that the “New Style” tea market in China had reached 354.72 billion RMB (48.68 billion USD) in 2024 and is projected to reach 374.93 billion RMB (51.45 billion USD) in 2025, to over 400 billion RMB (54.89 billion USD) by 2028, the market is in a state of steady growth and saturation. With competition entering lower-tier cities and fierce price wars, many chains are already experiencing difficulties, as well as huge opportunities with “healthy” and sugar-free tea. Now that Auntea Jenny is set to become the fourth tea chain IPO, it might be a sign of a paradigm shift in the market.
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