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Guming (HKG: 1364), a bubble tea chain with 13,500 stores, is a very interesting company. I just listened to an interview with its founder, and I think he is a person with clear, long-term thinking.
It is a company that is highly focused on supply chains, and the most interesting part is that, despite being the second-biggest bubble tea chain in China, its footprint covers only about half the country. Even today, they still don't have any stores in Beijing, Shanghai, or more than 10 other provinces.
Why doesn't the company have stores in all those provinces? Because the founder believes in store density. He thinks that, in order to provide great products at great prices, they need to have enough stores concentrated in the same region.
This is a very supply-chain-first company. They are targeting becoming the number one player in one region before entering another.
Another interesting part of the company is that they put very little effort into creating sensational products or drinks. Instead, they focus on products with existing demand that have already been validated by competitors.
Their goal is to use their strength in reinventing drinks, together with their supply chain capabilities, to create similar or better products at a lower cost.
Their menu is very interesting. It is basically a replication of the most popular items from premium brands that were highly popular a few years ago. For instance, it draws from popular categories like Hey Tea's fruit teas and Chagee's milk teas.
The company's target is to become the infrastructure for fresh drinks, rather than relying on any single hit product.
The interview link is here: