Martin Berry is the founder and chairman of Gong Cha Global.
Provided by Martin Berry
When Martin Berry quit his lucrative banking job at the end of 2013 to focus all his energy on selling bubble tea, his bosses thought he was “crazy”.
Mr. Berry was in his 30s at the time and had spent much of his career in senior management roles managing multitrillion-dollar balance sheets, he said. However, over time, I realized that a high salary was no longer enough to satisfy me.
“After working hard for quite a while, I realized I didn’t really like the corporate system. I didn’t like the lack of entrepreneurship,” Berry told CNBC Make It. “It was all about risk management, not risk-taking.”
Currently, he is the founder and chairman of Gong Cha Global, an international bubble tea franchise. The company’s origins date back to 1996, when a man named Wu Zhenhua opened a small tea shop in Taiwan.
Before Berry joined, Gongcha only existed in four countries in Asia. Under his leadership, the company transformed from a regional brand to a global brand, with over 2,000 Gong Cha stores in 30 countries.
bet on yourself
Berry grew up in rural Melbourne, Australia. He says he has had an entrepreneurial spirit since childhood.
“We didn’t necessarily have a lot of money…I started being very entrepreneurial at a very young age, trying to start businesses and different types of things,” Berry said.
From working on the farm to feeding cows and selling Christmas trees, he found different ways to earn money even as a child. “I was born with an innate desire to make money,” he said. “I think I was very driven by money and what it could do for you and the power it could have.”
As Berry grew older, he became more enterprising. At the age of 19, he managed to land his first full-time corporate job while most of his peers were focused on school and social life.
“I actually snuck into a presentation at a university and it was supposed to be for alumni…I was listening to these companies pitching why graduates should join them,” Berry said. After the event, he went to a human resources representative at the IT company Hewlett-Packard (HP) and offered to work for him for free.
That conversation helped Berry land her first summer internship with the company, which eventually turned into a full-time job that she was able to balance with her college studies.
“I made it through by studying nights and weekends to get my degree. By the time I graduated, I already had three years’ worth of corporate experience,” Berry said.
By the time Berry was in his 30s, he had held high-ranking positions in offices around the world, including Australia, London, Singapore, and South Korea. After working in the corporate world for about 20 years, he knew it was time to do something different.
appropriate ingredients
One day in early 2011, Berry stumbled upon what would become his next chapter. He was getting a haircut at a shopping mall in Singapore when he noticed a long line outside a nearby store.
Interested, he joined the line. It was a gong cha shop that is gaining popularity in Asia.
Berry noticed some green lights. The drinks were quick to make, the stores were small and lean, and the product’s simple ingredients meant profit margins were high.
“I didn’t know anything about boba or bubble tea, but from a financial engineering perspective…I thought this product must be incredibly profitable,” he said.
Berry thought this was a good fit for the business and began due diligence. He bought the 10 best-selling drinks that day, sampled them, and spent the next few weeks visiting various stores to observe customer traffic. He decided he wanted to join.
After several failed attempts to gain access to Gong Cha’s headquarters, he decided to fly to Taiwan and appear at the headquarters. Luckily, the original founder was there. The two struck a deal and Berry became the bubble tea company’s master franchisor.
Berry said he spent about $2.5 million of his life savings to expand the company into South Korea, its fifth market, and went on to lead the brand’s international expansion.
The company generated more than $500 million in system-wide revenue in 2024, according to documents seen by CNBC Make It.
“When you’re struggling…you think you have to invent the next light bulb or the next wheel to start a business…but that’s far from the truth,” Berry said. “What’s really important is to look for something that has a lot of potential. What can you do better than others, or can you put a different spin on it?”
“You just have to open your mind and open your eyes to what’s out there in the world,” he says.
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