What It Is
Franchising · Markets · Taiwan · Bubble Tea · East Asia · Business ReportDeal of Jan 2025 · record to 8 Sep 2026
A global bubble-tea exporter buys the tea house that claims the first cup
Twenty-Six Shops at Home
La Kaffa International sells Taiwanese bubble tea in sixty-three countries. Its Chatime network ran to about 1,400 shops in late 2024: 420 in Indonesia, 180 in the Philippines, 168 in Australia — and 26 in Taiwan. In January 2025 it paid NT$272 million for Hanlin, a forty-outlet tea house from Tainan whose founder had died in 2022 with no successor willing to take over. On the owners’ own profit target the price was 7.6 to 8.6 times a year’s earnings, where comparable deals had cost about a quarter of revenue. Hanlin is famous for claiming it invented the drink; the people quoted on the deal disagree about whether that claim, or the food Hanlin sells beside its tea, is what the money bought.
What is established, and how firmly Sorted by standing: the deal and its figures first, the companies’ own accounts next, then what is only reported and what nobody has separated.
- 26Chatime shops in Taiwan in November 2024, against 420 in Indonesia
- NT$272mfor 100% of Hanlin, at NT$68 a share — exactly 4 million shares
- 7.6–8.6×the price as a multiple of Hanlin’s 2025 profit target, at the stated 7–8% margin
- 2022the year Hanlin’s founder died; the second generation did not take over
- NT$2.13group earnings per share in the first half of 2026, against NT$1.09 for all of 2025 — Hanlin’s part unpublished
| Standing | What is established | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmed | On 6 January 2025 La Kaffa’s board resolved to buy 100% of Hanlin International at NT$68 a share, NT$272 million, as a strategic long-term investment. Hanlin was consolidated from 1 March 2025. | 食力 foodNEXT and 自由財經, 6 January 2025; 知新聞 and MoneyDJ, 7 January 2025 |
| Confirmed | Why Hanlin sold: its founder 涂宗和 died in 2022 and the second generation did not take over. 王麗玉, La Kaffa’s executive vice-president, became Hanlin’s chairman, and the agreement kept its roughly 400 staff and 15-person management team for at least two years. | 數位時代, 食力 foodNEXT and 知新聞, January 2025 |
| Confirmed, one figure disputed | Hanlin was founded in Tainan in October 1986 and runs 40 outlets — 18 sit-down tea rooms and 22 tea stands, mostly in department stores and malls; one report the same day gave 37. Its 2024 revenue was NT$300–400 million, and it was in profit. | 食力 foodNEXT, 工商時報, 數位時代 and MoneyDJ; 37 in 自由財經 |
| Confirmed | Chatime ran about 1,400 outlets in 63 countries and territories in November 2024: Indonesia 420, the Philippines 180, Australia 168, Canada 133, Malaysia 45 — and Taiwan 26. A January 2025 report put the network at more than 1,500. | 自由財經, 10 November 2024; 數位時代, 7 January 2025 |
| Company account | La Kaffa’s chairman 王耀輝 said Hanlin fills an operating model the group lacked: tea sold with food in department-store sites, beside Chatime’s take-away counters. 王麗玉 said oden makes up over 30% of tea-stand revenue, and that the price was the fair result of both sides’ accountants’ valuations. Hanlin calls itself the founding brand of the world’s first bubble tea. | 食力 foodNEXT; 工商時報; 數位時代; Hanlin’s own notice, 8 January 2025 |
| Reported, not verifiable here | That a ten-year lawsuit between Hanlin and Chun Shui Tang ended in July 2019 with the holding that pearl milk tea is a new beverage, not a patented product, and that no originator need be named. Every report carries the holding; none names the court. | 鏡週刊, ETtoday and 華視新聞, 31 July 2019 |
| Not separated | Hanlin’s own contribution to the group result. First-half 2026 revenue was NT$2,654 million, up 35%, with earnings of NT$2.13 a share against NT$1.09 for all of 2025 — but Hanlin, the restaurant group 養心餐飲, Germany BoBoQ, Chatime’s recovery and an overseas restructuring are all inside that figure. | 中央社, 10 August 2026; 時報資訊, 12 August 2026 |
Timeline
Forty years from a market stall to a share price Every dated item. The two origin dates are the companies’ own.
- 1983劉漢介 opens 陽羨茶行 on 四維街 in Taichung — by Chun Shui Tang’s account, the start of the chain.
- Oct 1986涂宗和 opens the first Hanlin shop in Tainan. Hanlin’s account: he put white tapioca from 鴨母寮 market into milk tea and named the drink for the pearls.
- Mar 1987Chun Shui Tang’s account: 林秀慧, manager of the 四維 shop, mixes market tapioca into foam milk tea on a whim and sells it at NT$25 a cup.
- 2004La Kaffa International is founded; Chatime becomes its international tea brand.
- 31 Jul 2019Taiwanese outlets report that ten years of litigation between Chun Shui Tang and Hanlin have ended with the holding that pearl milk tea is a new beverage, not a patented product, that anyone may make it, and that no originator need be named. Neither side wins, and both say they are content. No report names the court.
- 2021The Philippine Jollibee group buys 51% of the Taiwanese tea chain Milksha for NT$350 million.
- 2022Hanlin’s founder dies. The second generation does not take over, and a fifteen-person team runs the chain.
- 10 Nov 2024Chatime counts about 1,400 outlets in 63 countries and territories, 26 of them in Taiwan, and targets 35–40 shops in the United States in 2025 and 100–110 in 2026.
- 6 Jan 2025La Kaffa’s board resolves to buy 100% of Hanlin for NT$272 million. The same day Milksha buys 70% of the thirteen-shop soup chain 雙月食品社 from its founder for NT$103.8 million, with NT$35 million more to follow.
- 7 Jan 2025At the press conference 王麗玉 is named Hanlin’s chairman, staff are kept for two years, and La Kaffa lifts its 2025 revenue growth target from at least 10% to 15–20% with Hanlin included.
- 1 Mar 2025Hanlin is consolidated into La Kaffa’s accounts.
- 2025The group’s subsidiary 王座國際 buys the restaurant business 養心餐飲, and from the second quarter La Kaffa restructures its under-performing overseas stores. Full-year earnings come to NT$1.09 a share on revenue of NT$4.30 billion.
- Jan 2026Germany BoBoQ begins contributing. Monthly revenue reaches NT$423 million, up 31.59%, and Indonesia’s agent — Chatime’s largest market — renews for fifteen years with 300 more shops.
- 8 May 2026First-quarter earnings of NT$1.10 a share on revenue of NT$1.34 billion, up 44% — more than the whole of 2025.
- 12 Aug 2026The board approves first-half accounts: revenue NT$2,654 million, operating profit NT$157 million, NT$2.13 a share, and a NT$2.00 half-year dividend. Hanlin has opened three outlets in the half.
- 8 Sep 2026August revenue of NT$479 million is the highest month on record; January to August reaches NT$3,579 million, up 29.55%.
The one thing without a date of its own is the thing the brand is sold on. There is a shop in Taichung with a year, a street and a named manager, and a shop in Tainan with a market and a name for the drink, and each date comes from the company telling the story. There are reports of ten years of litigation and of a holding that the question does not need an answer — and no report names the court that gave it. Every financial figure on this page can be placed to the day. The invention cannot.
- 0courts named in any report of the 2019 holding.
- 2companies claiming the first cup, their dates a few months apart.
- 5years between the reported holding and the sale of the shop that made the claim.
The Argument
A story and a kitchen, at a price the numbers alone do not explain The arithmetic first, then three named readings of what the money bought.
On its own figures, Hanlin was not cheap. Its owners targeted NT$450 million of revenue for 2025 at a 7–8% margin — NT$31.5 to 36 million of profit — so NT$272 million is 7.6 to 8.6 times a year’s earnings, and 0.68 to 0.91 times its 2024 revenue of NT$300–400 million. The restaurant consultant 魏昭寧, quoted by 數位時代, put comparable Taiwanese deals near a quarter of revenue; the soup chain bought the same day implies about 0.30. His conclusion was that, from that angle alone, the price was too high. One report of the same press conference gives Hanlin’s expected profit as NT$70–80 million, which would make the multiple 3.4 to 3.9; three others give the margin, and the two cannot both be right. The buyer’s answer was that the price came from both sides’ accountants. So the question is what the rest of the money was for, and the people quoted on the deal give different answers.
- 7.6–8.6×a year’s profit at the stated margin.
- ≈0.25×revenue, where comparable deals had been priced.
- 30%+of tea-stand revenue is oden, not drink.
| Who | What they say was bought | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 王耀輝, La Kaffa’s chairman | An operating model the group lacked: tea sold with food in department-store sites, next to Chatime’s take-away counters. He also said Chun Shui Tang first made foam tea, but the first pearl milk tea brand is Hanlin. | 食力 foodNEXT; 工商時報; 數位時代 |
| 王麗玉, Hanlin’s chairman | Food that is ready with the drink. The group had tried pairing tea with chicken cutlets and 紅豆餅, which take two to three times as long; sales rose less than 10% and more was thrown away than sold. Oden leaves the counter almost with the tea. | 數位時代; 知新聞 |
| 魏昭寧, restaurant consultant | The name. More than 60% of La Kaffa’s revenue is overseas, and to its agents and franchisees there a signboard reading Taiwan’s first bubble-tea brand is an eye-catching option — the hidden value that could justify the price. | 數位時代 |
| 林剛羽, investor | The food, for abroad: the item La Kaffa’s overseas tea shops are weakest at. | 數位時代 |
| 工商時報 | Both: a story, plus a varied menu, were the main attraction. | 今周刊, 7 January 2025 |
A claim nobody owns can still be sold
This is our reading. The holding the 2019 reports describe is that nobody needs to be named originator. That leaves the claim free for anyone to make and impossible for anyone to own — which is what lets a signboard carry it. The buyer’s chairman was still calling Hanlin the first pearl milk tea brand at the press conference. Nothing improper follows: a name people associate with an origin is worth something whether or not the origin can be proved. But what changed hands was that name, a menu, a department-store channel and a team of about 400 people — not a right.
What the results cannot show
Half-year earnings of NT$2.13 a share against NT$1.09 for the whole of 2025 is nearly twice as much, and it is tempting to read it as this deal working. It cannot be read that way. Hanlin and 養心餐飲 were both bought during 2025, Germany BoBoQ began contributing in January 2026, the group restructured its overseas stores from the second quarter of 2025, Indonesia’s agent renewed with 300 more shops, and Chatime added a net nineteen outlets in the second quarter of 2026 alone. Every report of the jump names these together. Three new Hanlin outlets in six months is the only figure specific to Hanlin.
What Others Add
The two founding stories, the chains buying food, and where the tea shops are From the 2019 reporting, the business press of the deal week, and the wires covering the sector since.
The dispute
Two shops, two stories, and a ruling nobody can locate
- Chun Shui Tang dates itself to 1983 and its drink to March 1987: a shop manager, 林秀慧, mixing market tapioca into foam milk tea, sold at NT$25 a cup. She now heads the chain’s product department.
- Hanlin dates itself to October 1986 in Tainan: white tapioca from 鴨母寮 market, put into milk tea and named 珍珠 — pearls — for how the cooked balls looked.
- The reported holding: a new kind of beverage, not a patented product, anyone may prepare it, no originator need be decided. Chun Shui Tang’s spokeswoman said her father, nearly seventy, had long stopped caring; Hanlin’s development manager said the drink belongs to every Taiwanese.
- What none of the reports carries: the court, a case number, when proceedings began, or what was pleaded.
The pattern
Drinks chains buying food — and who owns whom
- On the same day as the Hanlin resolution, Milksha 迷客夏 — 314 outlets in Taiwan — bought 70% of the soup chain 雙月食品社 from its founder for NT$103.8 million, with NT$35 million more planned. 雙月 had thirteen shops and opened in Singapore in 2024.
- Milksha is not independent: the Philippine Jollibee group has held 51% of it since 2021.
- By August 2026 the wires were pairing La Kaffa with a different group, 聯發國際 — owner of the tea brands Sharetea and UG — as two drinks companies turning into food platforms; 聯發 plans to enter food in the fourth quarter of 2026. Its first-half revenue was NT$610 million, and its earnings NT$1.53 a share.
The export estate
The company is Taiwanese; its tea shops mostly are not
- Indonesia is the largest market at 420 outlets, 30% of the network; Taiwan’s 26 are 1.9%. Chatime has expanded abroad through agency partners since 2010, and its global chief executive was aiming at 100–110 shops in the United States by 2026.
- 26 describes the tea brand, not the group: La Kaffa runs more than ten restaurant brands and targets 200 directly run shops in Taiwan for 2026.
- Growth abroad slowed and then returned: a net 40–50 franchised shops were added in 2024, a net 19 in the second quarter of 2026, and Indonesia’s agent renewed for fifteen years with 300 more.
Conclusion
What it means, depending on where you are reading from Three positions, one set of facts.
If you buy the tea
More Hanlin, and probably more food with it
- Three new Hanlin outlets opened in the first half of 2026, and its new owners said they want to systematise the brand and take it abroad. The tea rooms and the oden are what the people behind the deal say they were buying, so they are what is likeliest to spread.
- What the deal does not settle is the drink’s origin. Anyone selling you the first cup is selling you a story.
If you hold the shares
The group is growing; this deal’s share of it is unpublished
- August 2026 was the best month on record at NT$479 million; the first half earned NT$2.13 a share against NT$1.09 for 2025, with a NT$2.00 half-year dividend — NT$1.50 from earnings and NT$0.50 from capital surplus.
- Several contributors sit inside that. Anyone crediting it to Hanlin is doing so without a published number — and on the owners’ own margin, Hanlin was bought at 7.6 to 8.6 times a year’s profit.
If you read founder stories
An unowned origin is still an asset
- The reported holding was that the question did not need answering. It did not stop the answer being worth money five years later, or the buyer’s chairman from giving it at the press conference.
- The consultant who called the price high on the numbers is the one who named the story as what might justify it. The story was not worthless; it was one of the things being priced, beside a kitchen that works.
Three things to hold loosely
Hanlin’s contribution to the group result is not published, so no figure here shows this deal working or failing. The profit behind every multiple is disputed: three reports give a 7–8% margin on NT$450 million, one gives NT$70–80 million, and the multiple moves from 7.6–8.6 to 3.4–3.9 with it. And Hanlin’s size is reported as 40 outlets by most sources and 37 by one, on the same day.
What could not be verified
Unconfirmed report — that a court ruled in July 2019, after ten years of litigation between Hanlin and Chun Shui Tang, that pearl milk tea is not a patented product and no originator need be determined. Reported the same day by several outlets, with both companies’ representatives responding; none names the court, a case number or the claims, and no judgment was found.
Unconfirmed report — that Hanlin’s founder made the first bubble tea in Tainan in 1986. The company’s own account, repeated in its notices; nothing independent dates it.
Unconfirmed report — that Chun Shui Tang’s shop manager made it first, in Taichung in March 1987. Also a company’s own account, and equally undated by anyone else.
Take-home and sources
- 食力 foodNEXT, 6 and 7 January 2025
- 自由財經, 10 November 2024 and 6 January 2025
- 工商時報, 7 January 2025 and 8 September 2026
- 數位時代, 7 January 2025
- 今周刊, carrying 工商時報, 7 January 2025
- 知新聞 and MoneyDJ, 7 January 2025
- Hanlin’s own notice, 8 January 2025
- 優分析, 27 March 2025
- 經濟日報 and CMoney, 9 February 2026
- 旺得富, carrying 工商時報, 10 March 2026
- MoneyDJ, 8 May 2026
- 中央社, 10 August 2026
- 時報資訊, 12 August 2026
- 鏡週刊, ETtoday and 華視新聞, 31 July 2019. Multiples are our own arithmetic from the published revenue and margin figures.