Bubble-tea brand Sharetea says it is planning expansion in Australia as the country recovers from Covid restrictions.

Established almost 10 years ago, the brand boasts 90 franchised stores now and plans to expand it to 110 stores by the end of this year.

The company says coffee and tea prices have risen during the past two years along with freight, rent and labour costs. Despite this, Sharetea has “resisted” increasing prices to its franchisees. 

CEO of Sharetea, Anthony Mu, said the pandemic placed a lot of stress on the business as stores were forced to suspend trading as well as deal with supply-chain issues.

“We have emerged from Covid in a better shape and are keen to expand our footprint across Australia. We are developing new products and recipes to attract new demographics in what is one of the fastest-growing beverage categories in the world,” he said.

Mu added individual stores across the network were recording encouraging turnover since new flavours were added to menus, along with bubble-tea products that customers can make at home.