Financial Report Watchroom | Guming's 2025: Expanding to 10,000 Stores, Profit Surge

Ask AI · Why has supply chain cost control become the core support for Guming’s profit growth?

Listed new tea beverage companies have been releasing their financial reports one after another. On March 25, Guming, a new tea beverage company, released its 2025 annual performance report showing that the number of stores, performance per store, revenue, and profit all increased steadily. Over the past year, Guming achieved simultaneous improvement in store scale, operating performance, and profitability, with all key indicators showing a steady growth trend. Its store layout closely aligns with the industry’s trend toward deeper penetration into lower-tier markets: it focuses on tier-two and below cities, continuously expands market coverage, further consolidates its layout advantage in lower-tier markets, and also provides practical experience that can be referenced.

The product-level layout also reveals its strategic intent. From rolling out 100 new products throughout the year to the scaled deployment of its coffee category across more than 10,000 stores, Guming is trying to broaden the boundaries of made-to-order beverages to better respond to changes in consumer demand with a richer product matrix. And behind all of this is long-term accumulation of supply chain capabilities. When warehouse-to-store delivery cost is controlled within 1% of total transaction value, and when 98% of stores can enjoy cold-chain service delivered once every two days, the efficiency advantage brought by scaling becomes the fundamental support for navigating through market cycles.

In 2025, Guming launched 27 new coffee beverage products.

Results highlight growth momentum

The financial report shows that in 2025, Guming generated total revenue of approximately 12.9 billion yuan (RMB), up 46.9%; adjusted profit (measured under non-IFRS accounting standards) of approximately RMB 2.575 billion, up 66.9%. Gross profit also rose from last year’s RMB 2.6875 billion to RMB 4.2622 billion, an increase of 58.6%, while the gross margin increased from 30.6% to 33.0%. In terms of profitability, the company’s annual profit was RMB 3.1155 billion, up 108.6%.

It is understood that Guming’s revenue growth mainly benefited from the continuous expansion of its store network and the increase in total goods transaction value (GMV). In 2025, Guming’s total GMV reached RMB 32.732 billion, up 46.1%, and its average daily GMV per store increased from approximately RMB 6,500 in 2024 to approximately RMB 7,800.

In terms of revenue structure, Guming’s revenue mainly comes from the franchise model. In 2025, revenue from franchise stores accounted for 96.5% of the company’s total revenue. Of this, revenue from sales of goods and equipment was RMB 10.269 billion, accounting for 79.5% of total revenue, up 46.2% year over year; franchise management service revenue was RMB 2.628 billion, accounting for 20.3% of total revenue, up 50.2% year over year. In 2025, Guming’s cost of sales was RMB 8.652 billion, up 41.7% year over year, which is lower than the 46.9% revenue growth rate—one of the main reasons behind the improvement in gross margin. The company explained in its financial report that the improvement in gross margin mainly benefited from procurement cost optimization driven by economies of scale and adjustments to its product mix.

Stores continue to deepen penetration into lower-tier markets

The number of stores is impressive. In 2025, Guming continued steady expansion, reaching 13,554 stores, net adding 3,640 stores compared with the end of 2024.

Lower-tier markets have become a core region for tea beverage brands to seek incremental growth. According to Hongcan (Red Meal) data, the number of tea beverage stores in first-tier cities has been approaching saturation, with a slight decline appearing in 2025. The year-over-year growth rates of the number of stores in new first-tier cities and third-tier and below cities were all 4%. Among border and remote provincial-level administrative regions such as Tibet, Heilongjiang, and Gansu, the year-over-year growth rates of the number of stores generally ranged between 6% and 10%, which is higher than the national average. Guming accurately laid out lower-tier markets from its early development stage. With a “regional densification” strategy and an efficient supply chain system, it seized first-mover advantages in lower-tier markets.

According to the financial report, by continuously focusing on areas with core advantages, Guming has further increased store coverage density and brand influence in lower-tier markets. The financial report shows that Guming’s store network covers more than 200 cities of different tiers across China, with the number of stores in tier-two and below cities accounting for 82% of total stores; the share of stores in towns and townships increased to 44%, further deepening its layout in China’s lower-tier markets.

The underlying logic of this lower-tier strategy is the “regional densification strategy.” As disclosed in the financial report, within the 17 provinces where Guming has already established its layout, it continues to increase store density. So-called “layout” means opening at least 10 stores in a single province; “critical scale” means opening at least 500 stores in a single province. By achieving high-density coverage in high-potential areas, Guming can allocate warehouse and logistics resources more effectively, reduce delivery costs, and also build brand momentum.

The store empowerment and expansion extend to the product side as well. In 2025, Guming launched 106 new products throughout the year, maintaining a high-frequency schedule of new releases. The breakthrough in the coffee category is the biggest highlight on the product side in 2025. By the end of 2025, more than 12,000 of Guming’s stores had coffee machines, covering about 89% of its stores. Over the course of the year, it released 27 new coffee beverage products. Its product line expanded from basic Americanos and lattes to integrated categories such as fruit coffees and tea coffees. This is not just a simple stacking of categories, but is based on judgments about consumer trends—coffee consumption is moving from first-tier cities into lower-tier cities, and Guming’s existing store network and supply chain system provide the foundational conditions for entering this track.

Based on information disclosed in the financial report, the expansion of the coffee category has already had a positive impact on sales. The company said that the launch of coffee beverages “broadened the consumer base and increased purchase frequency.” Of the incremental increase in the average number of cups sold per store per day—from 384 cups to 456 cups—coffee beverages contributed a substantial proportion. Guming also said that as competition intensified, the subsidies provided to consumers by delivery platforms have, compared with 2024, resulted in increases in the recorded GMV per store, average daily GMV per store, number of cups sold per store, and average daily cups sold per store.

Guming beverages are also widely popular with consumers and have received broad acclaim. As of December 31, 2025, the number of registered members on Guming’s mini program had reached approximately 206 million, and quarterly active members were about 52 million. Member-system accumulation and product innovation create a positive feedback loop. High-frequency new releases give members ongoing reasons to revisit, while member data provides decision support for new product R&D and marketing strategies. The company said it will “further develop the member system by providing more member interactions and marketing activities, to enhance consumers’ experience and improve consumers’ loyalty.”

Customers buy beverages at Guming stores.

Going forward, in terms of store expansion, Guming will continue to increase store density in the 17 provinces where it has already established its layout. As of December 31, 2025, Guming still has 17 provinces nationwide where it has not established a layout, leaving ample room for growth. It is understood that Guming will strategically enter provinces adjacent to those where it has already established its layout, and will continue to evaluate opportunities to expand into overseas markets.

Supply chain barriers remain solid

In the made-to-order tea beverage industry, supply chain capability has been becoming the key dividing line that differentiates leading companies from smaller players. Guming’s long-term investment in this area is being transformed into tangible competitive advantages.

Guming stores and transports beverage raw materials with short shelf lives—such as fresh fruit, tea leaves, and fresh milk—through its own cold-chain warehousing and logistics infrastructure, and it also sets detailed standards to manage the supply chain across each stage—from procurement of supplies, to processing of raw materials, to warehousing and transportation to stores.

Guming’s supply chain system is centered on “cold-chain warehousing + logistics distribution.” By the end of 2025, the company operated 24 warehouses in total, with total gross floor area of about 258,000 square meters, including cold storage capacity of over 70,000 cubic meters, which can support storage needs across multiple temperature ranges. These warehouses are mainly located in the provinces where Guming has already established its layout, forming a warehousing network that matches the store network. These warehouses can provide cold-chain delivery service once every two days to approximately 98% of stores as needed.

Worth noting is its cost-control capability. The financial report shows that in 2025, Guming’s warehouse-to-store delivery cost was less than 1% of total GMV. This cost level provides a clear advantage in the chain catering industry, mainly benefiting from increased delivery density brought by the “regional densification strategy”—when a single warehouse covers enough stores, the unit delivery cost naturally decreases. From the warehouse layout perspective, as of the end of 2025, about 75% of stores are located within a 150-kilometer radius of a given warehouse. This means that most stores can receive fresh raw materials within a relatively short transportation radius, which not only ensures quality but also controls logistics costs.

At the procurement end, economies of scale are also evident. With the store network continuing to expand, Guming’s bargaining power with upstream suppliers has been increasing. Guming said it will continue to source high-quality raw materials such as tea leaves and fruits from the source, and invest in processing plants to enhance raw material processing capacity and capability. In addition, Guming is also investing in intelligent warehousing. As disclosed in the financial report, the company plans to invest in smart warehousing facilities and software to support automated storage, packaging, inventory management, and information tracking. These investments will further strengthen its supply chain efficiency advantages.

According to the financial report, going forward, as Guming expands its store network into new regions or increases business in existing areas, it will comprehensively evaluate warehousing costs and delivery efficiency, and make strategic investments in warehousing and logistics infrastructure. Guming plans to invest in smart warehousing facilities and software to support automated storage, packaging, inventory management, and information tracking. Guming also plans to strengthen logistics infrastructure by adding and upgrading freight vehicles. In addition, Guming will continue to improve cold-chain technology to deliver short shelf-life raw materials such as fresh fruits to stores, including stores in lower-tier cities, to ensure stable delivery of raw materials and quality control.

Once the store scale exceeds 10,000 stores, Guming’s path has validated a judgment: supply chain efficiency and the depth of lower-tier penetration are becoming the core variables for new tea beverage companies to navigate through the cycle.

By Wang Ziyang

Edited by Tang Zheng

Proofread by Liu Baoqing