Red Star Capital Bureau reported on August 15 that Sichuan Baicha Baidao Industrial Co., Ltd. submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the sole sponsor was CICC. This means that after Nai Xue's tea (02150.HK), another new tea star company rushed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
According to the prospectus, the retail sales of Chabaidao stores will reach about RMB13.3 billion in 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 139.7% from 2020 to 2022. According to Frost & Sullivan's report, Chabaidao ranked third in China's new tea shop market in terms of retail sales in 2022, with a market share of 6.6%.
(i)
"Old player" tea hundred way
According to public information, Chabaidao was established in 2008, and its first store was opened near Wenjiang No. 2 Middle School in Chengdu, targeting students.
From the perspective of time, Chabaidao is regarded as the "old-timer" of the new tea drinking industry. Today's industry leader Heytea was founded in 2012, Naixue's tea was founded in 2015, and the boom in the market, known as the "first year" of new tea drinks, occurred in 2015.
However, unlike many new tea brands, the development of Chabaidao was not fast at first.
According to public information, the number of Chabaidao stores in 2017 has just exceeded 180.
Until after 2018, Chabaidao at that time began its own expansion road, through the "direct management + joining" model, began to race.
At the same time, Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that in 2018, Chabaidao began a comprehensive brand upgrade. Originated in Chengdu, Chabaidao integrates giant panda elements with Chengdu attributes into product design, named "Tintin Cat". Not only the packaging of the cups, but also the elements of the interior decoration of the store are related to the giant pandas.
The creation of Internet celebrity IP has attracted many consumers to check in. In addition to freshly made tea, Chabaidao has also launched tea gift boxes, tea cups, tea leaves and other derivative products, all with panda elements, which are sought after by young people.
According to the data of narrow door restaurant, from 2019 to 2022, the number of new stores of Chabaidao will be 367, 1485, 2844 and 1817 respectively.
In April 2023, Chabaidao held the 2023 brand upgrade conference in Chengdu, Sichuan, and the company announced that the number of its stores had exceeded 7,000.
(ii)
The new round of large-scale financing has attracted much attention
Red Star Capital Bureau noted that in June this year, Chabaidao obtained a new round of financing, led by Orchid Asia, and followed by a number of well-known investment institutions, which set off huge waves in the tea drinking industry at that time.
The reason why it has attracted much attention is, on the one hand, that this is the first public financing in the more than ten years since the establishment of Chabaidao, and on the other hand, it is also the first large-scale financing in the tea beverage industry this year.
In fact, in recent years, as the competition for new tea drinks has entered the second half, the industry is very seriously involved, and the fierce competition has accelerated the reshuffle of the industry.
In this context, the attitude of capital towards new tea drinks has gradually become rational, and the "no one cares" of new tea drinks in 2022 has become an industry consensus.
Therefore, as soon as the news of Chabaidao's public financing in June came out, it also inspired the entire new tea beverage industry, so that the new tea beverage industry that fell into the financing winter once again saw some new opportunities.
To some extent, this round of financing represents investors' optimism about China's future consumption growth and optimism about new tea drinks.
Shen Meng, director of Chanson Capital, said: "China has a large population base and a long history of tea drinking, so investors often believe that new tea brands with innovative genes have growth potential. Chabaidao innovates on the basis of milk tea, introduces more elements into products, and constantly innovates in ingredients and other aspects, which is deeply preferred by young consumer groups.
It can be seen that if the new tea brand wants to gain the favor of capital again, it is not without opportunities, but it needs a more specific and distinct "story".
(iii)
What are the competitive advantages of Chabaido?
From the current market competition pattern of new tea drinks in China, the first echelon presents a "three-legged" situation of Naixue, Heytea and Michelle Bingcheng; And chain tea brands such as Chabaido, CoCo, and Shuyiyao Xian Cao have become middle-waist players.
What are the advantages of tea baidao, which has received capital attention?
On the one hand, from the perspective of the industry, the mid-range new tea beverage market to which Chabaidao belongs does have more market space.
According to the "2021 China New Tea Beverage Industry Research Report" jointly released by the China Cuisine Association and a number of institutions, mid-range brands priced at 10-20 yuan occupy nearly 50% of the market share, and concentrate many brands such as Chabaidao, Chayanyueshi, Guming, CoCo, and 1 Dian Dian.
From the perspective of the number of stores, Chabaidao is now the leader of the second echelon, and the industry advantage is more obvious.
On the other hand, from the perspective of enterprises, Chabaidao does have its own playing style and strategy to improve its own moat.
At the product level, innovative products are often the key to the survival of catering enterprises. Positioned as "fresh fruit and Chinese tea", Chabaidao has not invested a lot in product innovation.
For example, in the product packaging, the 1L superfruit tea of Chabaidao has made a new difference; In addition, Chabaidao also launched joint products with Dunhuang Museum and Luzhou Old Cellar, which also gained a wave of attention.
At the management level, although the franchise model can bring rapid growth in the scale of stores, the level of franchisees is uneven, and how the company manages has become the key.
In 2021, the relevant person in charge of Chabaidao revealed in an interview with the media: "This year, the internal operation team of Chabaidao has hundreds of people, and the number of people will exceed 1,000 next year, and we pay attention to all the company's operation centers, performance, turnover is not the focus of assessment, but value QSC, Dianping score, takeaway response rate and other basic work." There are also various incentives. For franchisees, the operation of the store has 3 echelon standards, and if it meets the highest standard, it is eligible to open a new store, and if the operation is poor, it is not eligible to open a new store. ”
In general, the advantages of Chabaidao come from two dimensions, the first is the product and brand level, "delicious + reasonable price + brand building" allows products and brands to interact benignly; Secondly, at the level of training and operation, people are selected, taught, and managed well, and people are right and things are more than half successful, and finally favored by capital.
For future development, the prospectus shows that the next step will focus on improving overall operational capabilities and strengthening supply chain, brand building and promotion activities, product development and innovation.
Red Star News reporter Liu Yao
Edited by Yang Cheng
(Download Red Star News, there is a prize!) ）
