LiHO Tea Founder Interview: 100+ Outlets, $4 Million a Month, and a Tough 2026

What the founder said, in order

The interview is 80 seconds and he does not dodge a single question. Royal T Group started in 2009. Was the early period tough? "Definitely." How many outlets? "Total we have a hundred over outlets." Is that enough? "Of course it's never enough to grow the business, however you also need to understand the current situation, 2026 is really a tough year."

Then the number. Our guess was $50,000 times 100 outlets. He came back with "we're doing about $4 million plus per month", and confirmed the per-outlet maths at around $40,000 "plus and minus". For a Singapore F&B founder to say a revenue figure on camera, unprompted by a press team, is rare. Part 2 has his business advice, or as he put it, "I won't say advice lah, we just exchange".

Who runs LiHO, and the Gong Cha story

LiHO is owned by Royal T Group, founded by Rodney Tang. Tang brought the Gong Cha franchise to Singapore in 2009 with one outlet and grew it to 80 in under a decade. In 2017, after the Taiwanese brand owner was sold without him being formally told, he walked away from the franchise and rebranded every outlet as LiHO within weeks, at a cost he put at around $1 million at the time. LiHO is Hokkien for "how are you".

Royal T Group now also runs Nene Chicken, Bornga, Paik's Bibim, Paik's Coffee, Gong Yuan Ma La Tang, A Gan Guo Kui and TOUS les JOURS in Singapore, which is why "a hundred over outlets" can mean the group as a whole. Its own website describes more than 80 outlets across drink kiosks, cafes and restaurants, so treat the exact LiHO-only count as somewhere in that range. We covered the brand's biggest 2026 launch in our LiHO x Winnie the Pooh breakdown.

Why $40,000 an outlet is the number to remember

A bubble tea kiosk in a mall pays rent, two to three staff per shift, and ingredient costs on a $3 to $6 drink. $40,000 a month in sales is roughly 300 cups a day at an average of $4.50, every day, per outlet. That is a healthy kiosk, not a printing press, and it explains the "tough year" line: rent and manpower in 2026 have gone up faster than drink prices can.

It also puts the Instagram comments in perspective. "$4 million a month" sounds like a fortune until you split it across 100 shopfronts and subtract mall rent. The interesting question for part 2 is what he does about it, and we asked.

FAQs

Who is the founder of LiHO Tea?

LiHO Tea is run by Royal T Group, founded by Rodney Tang, who brought Gong Cha to Singapore in 2009 and rebranded the outlets as LiHO in 2017.

How much revenue does LiHO Tea make?

In our street interview the founder said the group is doing about $4 million plus per month across a hundred over outlets, which he agreed works out to around $40,000 per outlet per month. It is his own figure, not an audited one.

How many LiHO outlets are there in Singapore?

The founder said a hundred over outlets. Royal T Group's website says more than 80 outlets across its brands, so the LiHO-only number sits somewhere in that range.

Why did Gong Cha become LiHO in Singapore?

In 2017 the Taiwanese owner of Gong Cha was sold without the Singapore franchisee being formally informed. Rodney Tang left the franchise and rebranded all outlets as LiHO, Hokkien for "how are you".