He quit banking to sell bubble tea — now it’s a global empire that makes over $500 million a year

He quit banking to sell bubble tea — now it’s a global empire that makes over 0 million a year

Martin Berry turned Gong Cha from a small Taiwanese tea franchise into a global bubble tea brand with more than 2,000 stores.

Martin Berry, founder and chairman of Gong Cha Global, helped turn a small Taiwanese tea franchise into one of the world’s largest bubble tea chains, now with more than 2,000 locations in 30 countries.

Gong Cha was founded in 1996 by Zhen-hua Wu in Taiwan, but it wasn’t until 2011 that Berry encountered the brand in a Singapore mall and recognized its broader potential.

He decided to leave his lucrative banking career, flew to Taiwan to meet the founder and, by 2012, opened his first Gong Cha location in South Korea. Within three years, he expanded the brand there to more than 300 stores.

The company generated more than $578 million in systemwide sales in 2024, according to documents reviewed by “CNBC Make It.”

Watch the video above to learn more about Gong Cha’s rise and what the company hopes to accomplish next.

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