LiHO vs Gong Cha | How LiHO Replaced Gong Cha in 2017

Here is a piece of Singapore trivia that still confuses people: LiHO and Gong Cha used to be the same shops. The outlets, the locations, much of the early team, even the habits of the queues outside them, all started as Gong Cha. Then in 2017, in one of the boldest moves in Singapore F&B, about 80 stores changed their name, their menu and their identity, and became LiHO. This is that story.

Before LiHO: The Gong Cha Years

Gong Cha, the Taiwanese bubble tea brand, arrived in Singapore in 2009 under a local operator: Royal T Group, founded by Rodney Tang. Royal T built the brand patiently across the island, mall by mall and MRT station by MRT station, until Gong Cha Singapore stood at around 80 outlets and was one of the defining bubble tea names of the early 2010s. If you drank bubble tea in Singapore in those years, there is a good chance Royal T’s team made your cup.

The arrangement was a franchise: Royal T ran Singapore, the brand and recipes belonged to the Taiwanese parent. And franchises, as this story shows, end.

2017: The Split and the Overnight Rebrand

In 2017, Royal T did not renew its franchise arrangement with the Taiwanese parent. Eighty outlets suddenly needed a new name or no name at all. Closing was one option. Royal T chose the other one.

By 5 June 2017, every one of those outlets had been rebranded to a brand new, home grown name: LiHO. The word is Hokkien for “How are you?”, a greeting every Singaporean grows up hearing, and the Chinese characters (里喝) carry the sense of drinking right here, in the neighbourhood. The choice was the whole strategy in two syllables: where Gong Cha was a Taiwanese import, LiHO would be unmistakably Singaporean.

The mascot made the same point. LiHO’s lion, Mr Yuen, is as local a symbol as the island has.

The Risky Part: A New Menu, Not Just a New Sign

A name change keeps the curious for a week. LiHO’s real bet was the menu. Instead of quietly recreating the old drinks under new names, Royal T built the LiHO menu around flavours Gong Cha had never led with, and one genuine first: LiHO pushed cheese tea commercially in Singapore before any other major chain, the salted cheese foam cap that became the CheezHO range. Around it came the avocado series, gula melaka and local flavour experiments, and later signatures like the Kaya Toast Milk Green Tea, a drink that could only have been invented here.

It worked because the foundations never moved. The outlets stayed in the same malls, the regulars kept their routines, and the new menu gave them something to talk about. The queues that had formed for Gong Cha simply learned a new name to say.

And Gong Cha? It Came Back

The story has a second act that surprises people: Gong Cha later returned to Singapore under a new operator. So today, the brand LiHO replaced and the brand that replaced it trade in the same malls, sometimes minutes apart, competing for the same drinker. LiHO is not a former Gong Cha in any operational sense anymore, the two are independent rivals, but the shared DNA shows if you know where to look: similar bones, very different personalities. Gong Cha leans into its Taiwanese tea craft heritage. LiHO leans local, louder flavours, cheese foam, avocado, and a limited series every month or two to keep the board moving.

Where LiHO Stands Now

Under Royal T Group (which also runs Nene Chicken and Paik’s Bibim in Singapore), LiHO has grown past its original footprint to more than 80 outlets across Singapore and into Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China, with its drinks ordered daily through its own app and membership, myLiHOTEA. For a brand that began as an emergency rebrand, the arc is remarkable: the franchisee became the brand owner, and the replacement became the institution.

Our Verdict

The 2017 rebrand is the reason LiHO tastes the way it does. A franchise follows a playbook written elsewhere. An owner writes their own, and LiHO’s playbook, cheese tea first, local flavours, constant limited series, is the sound of a Singapore company cooking for Singaporeans. Gong Cha made good tea. LiHO made it ours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was LiHO really Gong Cha before?
Yes. Royal T Group operated Gong Cha in Singapore from 2009. When the franchise was not renewed in 2017, Royal T rebranded its roughly 80 outlets to LiHO by 5 June 2017, keeping the locations and building a new brand and menu.

What does LiHO mean?
LiHO (里喝) comes from the Hokkien greeting meaning “How are you?” The name was chosen to give the brand a warm, distinctly Singaporean identity.

Who owns LiHO?
LiHO is owned by Royal T Group, the Singapore company founded by Rodney Tang, which also operates Nene Chicken and Paik’s Bibim locally.

Are LiHO and Gong Cha the same company now?
No. Gong Cha returned to Singapore under a different operator, and the two brands are independent competitors today.