Sharetea Australia

What Sharetea Australia does

Sharetea Australia is a Sydney-based bubble tea franchise operator established in 2012 that operates over 150 stores across all eight Australian states and territories under the proprietary brand "Sharetea." The company sells bubble tea, milk tea, fruit tea, fresh tea, smoothies, crushes, yoghurt drinks, coffee blends, and customisable toppings sourced from premium Taiwanese tea leaves. Sharetea does not operate stores directly; instead, it derives revenue from a turnkey franchise model that includes initial franchise fees (kiosk stores from $250,000 + GST, inline stores from $290,000 + GST), an ongoing 5.5% royalty on franchisee turnover, and a 2.5% marketing fee. Franchisees receive end-to-end support including site selection, fit-out, equipment, a 3-week training program, and access to the Boba Bonus loyalty program via the proprietary Sharetea mobile app built on the Redcatcloud ordering platform.

The business serves two distinct customer bases: end consumers in the 16-35 demographic seeking customisable bubble tea, plus families and event planners via the catering service and kids menu, and aspiring franchisees ranging from first-time entrepreneurs to experienced business owners seeking a turnkey franchise investment. Sharetea differentiates through brand recognition cultivated since 2012, an exclusive partnership with NAB for franchise lending (the only bubble tea brand in Australia with this arrangement), and a multi-channel marketing approach spanning mobile app loyalty, social media, DoorDash delivery, and movie co-marketing campaigns. The underlying technology stack is conventional point-of-sale and ordering infrastructure with no disclosed AI/ML capabilities, and the company is privately held by Sharetea Pty Ltd (ACN 160 435 911) with no institutional investors, funding rounds, or parent company disclosed.

Name

Sharetea Australia

Legal name

Sharetea Pty Ltd ACN 160 435 911

Website

https://sharetea.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sharetea Australia is a Sydney-based bubble tea franchise operator running 150+ stores nationwide, deriving revenue from franchise fees, royalties, and marketing fees while serving young adult consumers and franchisee entrepreneurs across Australia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Bubble Tea / Specialty Beverage Retail

NAICS

Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (311920)

SIC

Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Coffee Chains & Franchise Cafes (THAFADAB)

Keywords

• Bubble tea franchise
• Specialty beverages
• Milk tea retail
• Beverage franchising
• Tea shop chain

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Franchise royalty fees: Sharetea generates revenue from franchisees through ongoing royalty fees calculated as a percentage of store turnover. Franchisees pay a 5.5% royalty fee on turnover, which covers the use of the brand's systems, recipes, and support infrastructure.
2. Franchise marketing fee: A 2.5% marketing fee is charged to franchisees, contributing to national campaigns, digital advertising, and brand growth initiatives.
3. Initial franchise fees and turnkey setup: Sharetea charges franchise fees as part of its turnkey solution covering store fit-out, equipment, initial stock, training, and launch marketing. Kiosk-style stores (10–20 sqm) start from $250,000 + GST; inline stores (20–60 sqm) start from $290,000 + GST.
4. Retail beverage sales: Revenue is generated from direct sales of bubble tea, milk tea, smoothies, crushes, yoghurts, and other beverages to end consumers through franchisee-owned retail stores.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Sharetea Australia operates a national bubble tea and specialty beverage franchise, selling freshly brewed milk teas, fruit teas, fresh teas, Tiger layered drinks, fruit fusions, crushes, smoothies, coffee blends, and yoghurt drinks with customisable toppings through over 150 franchise-owned retail stores across Australia. The company also packages its brand and operating system as a turnkey franchise offering, charging initial fees, ongoing royalties (5.5% of turnover), and marketing fees (2.5%) to franchisees.

Product overview

Sharetea Australia is a bubble tea and beverage franchise company operating over 130 stores across Australia since 2012. The core product portfolio centres on bubble tea (milk tea, fruit tea, fresh tea) with customisable toppings (pearls, jellies, popping pearls), supplemented by Tiger layered drinks, smoothies, crushes, coffee blends, and yoghurt beverages. The company offers catering services for events, a loyalty programme (Boba Bonus) accessible via its mobile app, gift cards, and a dedicated kids menu. Products are available across 11 main categories: Milky (milk teas), Tiger, Fruity (fruit teas), Fruit Fusion, Fresh Tea, Crushes, Smoothies, Coffee Blend, Yoghurt, and Toppings. The franchise model supports expansion across all Australian states and territories.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Milk Tea (Milky) beverages Classic bubble tea drinks with a milk base, offered in flavours including Chocolate, Honeydew, Lychee, Mango, Matcha, Matcha Rose, Okinawa, Pearl, Rose, Taro, Thai, and Watermelon milk teas. Sold to retail consumers at Sharetea franchise stores across Australia.
• Tiger layered drinks Tiger-striped layered drinks combining fresh milk with various flavour combinations including Original, Oreo, Mango, and Matcha variants.
• Fruit Tea (Fruity) beverages Tea-based drinks with fruit flavours, including Honeydew, Lemon, Lychee, Mango, Passionfruit, Peach, Rose, and Strawberry fruit teas.
• Fruit Fusion beverages Multi-fruit tea combinations with added ingredients like Aloe Vera, including Grape Lychee, Honey Lemon Aloe Vera, Mango Passionfruit, Passionfruit Grapefruit Lemon, Peach Grapefruit Lemon, Rose Lychee Lemon, and Watermelon Lychee varieties.
• Fresh Tea beverages Pure tea beverages without milk, including Assam Black Tea, Jasmine Green Tea, and Oolong Tea.
• Crushes (frozen blended drinks) Frozen blended iced drinks with fruit flavours, including Grape, Honeydew, Lychee, Mango, Mango Passionfruit, Rose Lychee, Strawberry, and Watermelon Crush.
• Smoothies

Quantifiable outcome

• Store opening timeline of 3-6 months from franchise agreement signing to opening day
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Heytea: Premium Chinese tea chain defining a 'new-style tea' category; not yet Australian but adjacent in positioning, ingredient sourcing, and digital-first engagement, signaling the premium-trajectory benchmark Sharetea could pursue.

Broad incumbents

• Starbucks Australia: Dominant specialty beverage chain in Australia with extensive tea offering; broader incumbent showing how premium-positioned franchise beverage chains scale, set customer expectations, and compete for prime retail real estate.

Direct peers

• T4 Tea: Australian-headquartered bubble tea and specialty tea franchise operating multiple stores; directly competitive in the franchise-supported bubble tea category.
• Chatime Australia: Largest bubble tea franchise chain in Australia, operating a similar Taiwanese-origin franchise model with comparable menu breadth and customer base (young adults/families) — most direct head-to-head competitor.
• Gong Cha Australia: Taiwanese-origin bubble tea franchise with Australian presence, offering milk teas, fruit teas, and customizable toppings under a similar franchise-store model.
• Tiger Sugar Australia: Premium bubble tea chain (brown-sugar boba origin) with Australian franchises; competes directly for the same young-adult customer segment and mall-based real estate.
• The Alley: Taiwanese bubble tea brand with Australian locations; competes in the same premium-bubble-tea segment with similar product customization and Instagram-led marketing.
• Happy Lemon: Taiwanese-origin specialty tea franchise with Australian presence, comparable menu of milk teas, fruit teas, and signature drinks under a franchise model.
• Yi Fang Taiwan Fruit Tea: Taiwanese fruit tea franchise with Australian operations; overlaps with Sharetea on fruit tea, customization, and millennial/young-adult target audience.
• CoCo Bubble Tea: Global Taiwanese bubble tea franchise with Australian locations; competes on similar menu structure, toppings customization, and franchise-cafe experience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/australiasharetea
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sharetea-australia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sharetea Australia