Gong cha Tea Invades Campuses: A New Brew for Academia

Gong cha is expanding its U.S. presence beyond traditional storefronts with new locations at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley. The bubble tea franchise has partnered with Ladle & Leaf through its Proud to Serve model, allowing the existing foodservice operator to add Gong cha beverages within its current venues. The locations are now serving students, faculty, healthcare professionals and campus visitors alongside Ladle & Leaf’s soups, salads and sandwiches.

The move gives Gong cha another way to reach consumers in high-traffic environments without relying solely on conventional restaurant locations. Its Proud to Serve program is designed for established foodservice operators that want to add Gong cha’s freshly brewed teas to an existing operation. For Gong cha, the model creates additional distribution points, while participating operators can add a recognizable beverage brand within their current footprint.

At the two University of California locations, customers can choose from Gong cha’s milk teas, fruit teas, freshly brewed teas, matcha beverages and signature milk foam teas. Drinks can be customized by sweetness, ice level and toppings. The company says its teas are sourced from leading estates in Asia and brewed fresh throughout the day, while tapioca pearls are prepared daily. The beverage menu is positioned as a complement to Ladle & Leaf’s focus on freshly prepared soups, salads and sandwiches.

Michael Nedelkovich Jr., Gong cha’s vice president of U.S. Non-Traditional Franchise Development, said the company views university settings as high-traffic environments where the brand can become part of consumers’ daily routines. Ladle & Leaf Chief Executive Officer Steve Sarver similarly described the beverage offering as a complement to the company’s existing menu. The partnership gives both companies a way to reach customers through an established campus foodservice setting rather than a standalone storefront.

The campus expansion is part of a broader effort by Gong cha to pursue nontraditional destinations, including hospitals, airports and other high-traffic venues. The company operates more than 240 locations in the United States and is working toward more than 500 locations across the Americas by 2028, according to the company. As franchise systems extend into varied operating environments, maintaining consistent information and shared resources becomes increasingly important. Gorilla Dash offers a Resource Library that provides a centralized space for organizing and sharing materials across a franchise organization. For Gong cha, the UCSF and UC Berkeley locations demonstrate how an established beverage brand can use alternative formats to broaden its reach while continuing to pursue conventional franchise growth.