Holding Alibaba-backed funding, Jasmine Milk White plans to open over a thousand stores this year

Source: Times Finance Author: Li Xinting

The freshly made tea beverage brand Jasmine Milk White is still accelerating store openings.

On February 26, Jasmine Milk White announced a new store opening policy for 2026. According to the document, franchisees opening 2 to 5 or more stores will receive a franchise fee reduction of between 25,000 to 50,000 yuan; if a franchisee opens a new store within 2 kilometers of an existing store, they can get a 50,000 yuan franchise fee waiver; additionally, Jasmine Milk White has introduced a second-hand equipment recycling mechanism, allowing franchisees opening a second store to use a full set of second-hand equipment.

Times Finance has learned that compared to 2025, Jasmine Milk White has lowered certain franchise costs such as staff training and design fees starting from February this year. The initial total investment (excluding store rent and hard decoration costs) has decreased from 240,000 yuan to 230,000 yuan.

The new policy’s goal is clear: to encourage franchisees to open multiple stores.

“Generally, after the Spring Festival, a number of retail spaces become available, which is the golden period for major freshly made tea brands to expand,” said Wang Hongdong, founder of Dining Guide, in an analysis for Times Finance. “Brands with expansion goals will seize this window to compete for financially strong, multi-store capable professional franchisees.”

It’s worth noting that under the wave of capital in the tea beverage industry, Jasmine Milk White has secured multiple rounds of financing since its founding. The recent reduction in investment thresholds and store expansion targets may be part of a strategy to pave the way for an IPO.

Jasmine Milk White stores. Times Finance photo.

Capital-Favored Tea Shops Race to Meet Store KPIs

This is not the first time Jasmine Milk White has lowered franchise thresholds. As early as 2024, the brand had already reduced some startup costs.

In February 2021, Jasmine Milk White opened its first store in Shenzhen. By December 2022, the brand had over 60 directly operated stores. In April 2023, Jasmine Milk White officially opened franchise opportunities, and the store opening speed gradually increased. Data from Narrow Door Dining shows that in 2023 and 2024, Jasmine Milk White opened 283 and 702 new stores respectively.

This rapid expansion did not meet the brand’s expectations. Media reports indicate that Jasmine Milk White initially planned to open 2,000 stores in 2024 but later adjusted the target to 1,000–1,200 stores for sustainable development and long-term profitability, while also expanding overseas markets.

To achieve this goal, Jasmine Milk White adjusted its store opening strategy in 2024. Previously, most stores were around 60 square meters; by mid-2024, the brand introduced smaller stores of 35-40 square meters, reducing initial investment costs for franchisees.

The small-store model has shown some results. Data from Narrow Door Dining indicates that in 2025, Jasmine Milk White opened over 1,000 new stores. Its official website shows that as of November 2025, the total number of stores exceeded 2,000. A relevant company executive told Times Finance that the brand plans to maintain a similar store expansion pace in 2026.

In 2025, Gu Ming, Mixue Group, Auntie Shang, and Bawang Tea Princess all listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, marking a wave of IPOs in the tea beverage industry. Against this backdrop, Jasmine Milk White, which has secured multiple rounds of financing since its founding, may be gearing up for an IPO by rapidly expanding its store network.

In 2022, Jasmine Milk White announced two rounds of financing within its second year, with investors including Waterdrop Assets, individual investors Song Huanping and Li Chengdong. Song Huanping is a well-known industry investor who has invested in popular brands like Lele Tea, Fangha, Hutou Ju Chinese Pastry, and Chen Xianggui Lanzhou Beef Noodles. In 2024, Jasmine Milk White secured nearly 100 million yuan in funding led by Alibaba Local Life.

Investors Discouraged by High Opening Costs

While Jasmine Milk White continues to expand its store network, many potential franchisees remain cautious due to the actual investment returns.

According to the latest franchise information, the brand’s store size requirement starts at 30 square meters, with an initial total investment of about 400,000 yuan per store excluding rent. When high-end brands like Heytea first opened franchise opportunities, their pre-rent initial investments were similar.

For Jasmine Milk White, which originated in Shenzhen and positions itself as “Eastern Modern,” its focus on prime urban core locations makes store opening costs difficult to lower. Data from Narrow Door Dining shows that currently, 60% of stores are in first- and second-tier cities, with over 70% located in shopping malls.

The high opening costs have discouraged some potential franchisees.

In 2025, a mid-tier tea brand’s franchisee, Wang Tuo (pseudonym), considered joining Jasmine Milk White but ultimately decided against it. He told Times Finance that opening a Jasmine Milk White in Guangdong would cost at least 600,000 yuan, and some franchisees have reported costs reaching 800,000 yuan. “Unless you find a very high-quality storefront and don’t have to pay transfer fees, it’s hard to lower the opening costs.”

In the freshly made tea industry, a 600,000 yuan startup cost already places a brand in the high-end category. However, the trend of cost-effective consumption combined with the ongoing takeaway subsidy wars since 2025 has put high-end brands like Jasmine Milk White in a difficult position.

Similarly, leading light乳茶 brands like Bawang Tea Princess have also seen performance impacts. In Q3 2025, Bawang Tea Princess’s net revenue and net profit declined. Due to the impact of takeaway platform subsidies on store sales, the brand’s franchise store net income fell by double digits year-over-year in that quarter.

Compared to Bawang Tea Princess, Jasmine Milk White still lags in store scale and brand influence, and must also compete with similar light乳茶 brands like Grandpa Not Bubble Tea, which also have around 2,000 stores and similar pricing (between 15 and 20 yuan).

“Nowadays, everyone looks at the price when buying milk tea. Compared to top brands like Gu Ming and Mixue Ice City, Jasmine Milk White is slightly weaker in delivery volume and supply chain construction. Plus, the high investment costs mean lower store efficiency,” Wang Tuo analyzed. He also revealed that among Jasmine Milk White franchisees, “few break even within a few months, most have thin profit margins.”

“Raising funds means the brand faces significant growth pressure, but in the current market environment, it’s hard for freshly made tea brands to achieve large growth,” Wang Hongdong concluded.