In-Depth Investment Value Analysis Report on LINLEE: Dual Barriers of Supply Chain and Emotional Consumption in the Lemon Tea Segment

Based on in-depth research and data analysis, I now present to you the full research report on the investment value of LINLEE.

---

Indicator	Data
Brand Founding Date	2012
Latest Financing	Multi-million RMB Series A Financing Round
Investor	Qianhai Ark Fund (Exclusive)
Valuation	Nearly RMB 1 Billion
2025 GMV	RMB 2.7 Billion
Number of Stores	1,900+
Cities Covered	200+
Founder	Wang Jingyuan
Co-founder and CEO	Lan Xiang

LINLEE was founded in Zhanjiang, Guangdong. It officially expanded to the national market in 2020, and completed a comprehensive brand upgrade in 2021 with a multi-million RMB angel investment from 37 Interactive Entertainment. As of 2024, its stores have covered 22 provinces, 4 municipalities directly under the central government, 2 special administrative regions, and 4 autonomous regions across China, and it is about to enter the overseas market [1].

, as the exclusive investor, is a well-known domestic industrial investment institution. This investment marks the capital market’s recognition of the lemon tea niche segment. With a valuation of nearly RMB 1 billion, LINLEE is still in the early stage compared to tea beverage brands listed in 2025 (Mixue Ice Cream & Tea over HK$100 billion, Guming HK$23 billion, Aunt Shanghai HK$12 billion), but this also means greater growth potential [2].

---

According to the 2025 China Catering Industry Development Report, the size of China’s new tea beverage market reached approximately RMB 350 billion in 2024, but

. This marks the industry’s official transition from a high-growth phase to a stock competition phase.

Year	Market Size (RMB Billion)	YoY Growth Rate
2017	40	23%
2019	90	28%
2021	140	18%
2023	250	15%
2024	320	11%
2025E	350	6.4%

The lemon tea segment presents a unique competitive landscape:

Indicator	Lemon Tea Segment	Overall New Tea Beverage Market
Market Size	Ten-billion RMB Level	350-billion RMB Level
Chain Rate	Only 10%	Approximately 30%
Top Brand Concentration	Approximately 15%	Approximately 45%
Industry Integration Opportunities	85%	55%

: The lemon tea segment’s chain rate is only 10%, far lower than that of the overall tea beverage track, which means there is huge . Currently, the industry is still in the early stage of development with low concentration, providing a window of opportunity for leading brands to expand rapidly [3].

Brand	Number of Stores	GMV	Financing/Listing Status
LINLEE	1,900+	RMB 2.7 Billion	Series A, RMB 1 Billion Valuation
Ningji	2,000+	Approximately RMB 2 Billion	Series B, Multi-billion RMB Valuation
Uncle Qiu	500+	Approximately RMB 800 Million	Series A+
TANING	380+	Approximately RMB 500 Million	Early Stage

LINLEE and Ningji have formed a “duopoly” pattern, but neither has yet established an absolute leading edge, so market competition will continue [4].

---

Since 2019, LINLEE has launched a self-built supply chain plan, investing over 50% of its funds in factory and orchard construction, and building a full-link control system from source to terminal:

Supply Chain Link	Specific Layout	Core Indicator
Bergamot Lemon Orchard	Long-term cooperation with core production areas	30,000 Mu
Sorting Center	Self-built, thousands of square meters	Standardized Processing
Tea Factory	Self-built premium tea factory	Exclusive Tea Soup Formula
Cold Chain Logistics	Fully Digital System	Coverage Rate Over 96%
Ordering System	Intelligent Allocation	Stability Rate 99.5%+

• Defined the
  70g+ Grade A Fruit
  standard
• Annual usage of approximately
  80 million
  bergamot lemons
• Ensures flavor consistency

• Comprehensive gross profit margin of stores reaches
  65-70%
• 10 percentage points higher than the industry average of 55-60%

• Average daily transaction volume per store in core cities reaches
  RMB 5,000
• Annual GMV per store in core cities exceeds
  RMB 8 Million
• Annual repurchase rate in core cities is
  27%
  , ranking among the top three in the industry

Investment Area	Estimated Investment Amount	Annual Cost Savings	Payback Period
Bergamot Lemon Orchard	Multi-million RMB	15-20%	2-3 Years
Sorting Center	Multi-million RMB	10-15%	2-3 Years
Tea Factory	Multi-million RMB	8-12%	3-4 Years
Cold Chain System	Multi-million RMB	5-8%	2-3 Years

: “The lemon tea industry will enter an era of competing on supply chains in 5 years.” LINLEE’s early layout is now being transformed into a competitive barrier [5].

---

LINLEE’s core differentiation lies in its

:

IP Element	Specific Content	Data Performance
Core IP	Little Yellow Duck (LINLEE Duck)	Over 11 million distributed in 2025
Brand Proposition	Big Lemon Awakens Life	Strong Memorability
Consumption Scenario	One Cup of Lemon Tea, One LINLEE Duck	Emotional Bonding
Target Positioning	Stress Relief Tool for Office Workers	Precise Reach

According to data from iiMedia Research,

, and is expected to exceed RMB 4.5 trillion by 2029. In 2025, emotional consumption became a key word throughout the year, and consumption patterns oriented towards emotional satisfaction have spawned emerging markets [6].

:

• Healing products have become a necessity
• Explosive demand for “small joys”
• Trendy toys, blind boxes, and stress relief toys remain popular
• IP collaborations have shifted from traffic internal competition to rational quality improvement

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                LINLEE Emotional Consumption Model                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                         │
│   Product Value       Emotional Value       Social Value       │
│   ├─ Lemon Tea        ├─ Little Yellow Duck IP  ├─ Check-in Culture │
│   ├─ Grease-cutting & Refreshing ├─ Workplace Healing ├─ Social Currency │
│   └─ Ultimate Taste   └─ Joy & Stress Relief  └─ Community Recognition │
│                                                         │
│   Result: Formed a "Product + Emotion + Social" integrated consumption loop │
│                                                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

:

• Annual sales of signature hand-made lemon tea exceed
  20 million cups
• Annual sales of duck shit fragrant hand-made lemon tea are approximately
  12 million cups
• Annual sales of yellow peel lemon tea are approximately
  12 million cups
• Total annual sales of the three hit products exceed
  40 million cups

---

Indicator	Data	Industry Comparison
Annual GMV per Store in Core Cities	Over RMB 8 Million	Industry Leading
Average Daily Transaction Volume per Store	RMB 5,000	Industry Excellent
Annual Repurchase Rate	27%	Top 3 in the Industry
Comprehensive Gross Profit Margin	65-70%	Above Average
Store Target (2026)	3,000 Stores	58% Annual Growth

Based on public information estimates, LINLEE’s single store model is as follows:

Item	Amount (RMB)	Proportion
Average Daily Revenue	5,000	100%
Raw Material Cost	1,750	35%
Labor Cost	1,000	20%
Rent Cost	750	15%
Other Costs	250	5%
Daily Net Profit	1,250	25%
Monthly Net Profit	Approximately 37,500	-
Annual Net Profit	Approximately 450,000	-
Payback Period	Approximately 1.5-2 Years	Better Than Industry Average

Year	GMV (RMB Billion)	YoY Growth	Number of Stores
2023	1.4	-	1,000+
2024	2.0	43%	1,500+
2025	2.7	35%	1,900+
2026E	4.0+	48%	3,000

---

1. Leading Position in the Segment
   : GMV of RMB 2.7 billion leads the lemon tea industry
2. Solid Supply Chain Barriers
   : 30,000-mu orchard + sorting center + tea factory form a moat
3. Strong IP Attributes
   : Over 11 million little yellow ducks distributed, creating a unique emotional consumption model
4. Mature Single Store Model
   : Annual GMV per store in core cities exceeds RMB 8 million, with short payback period
5. High Repurchase Rate
   : 27% annual repurchase rate ranks among the top three in the industry
6. Brand History
   : Founded in 2012, focused on lemon tea for 14 years

1. Relatively Limited Scale
   : 1,900+ stores vs. the 10,000+ store scale of leading brands
2. Low Valuation
   : Valuation of nearly RMB 1 billion vs. the multi-billion RMB valuation of listed tea beverage brands
3. Single Category
   : Focuses solely on lemon tea, with relatively weak risk resistance
4. Regional Concentration
   : A high proportion of stores are still in South China, and national expansion remains to be verified

1. Segment Integration Dividend
   : The lemon tea segment has a chain rate of only 10%, providing huge integration space
2. IPO Window
   : High capital market attention after the tea beverage listing wave
3. Emotional Consumption Dividend
   : Emotional economy market scale reaches RMB 2.3 trillion, with great IP monetization potential
4. Supply Chain Upgrade Dividend
   : Version 3.0 system supports the expansion target of 3,000 stores
5. Category Expansion Space
   : All-day scenarios such as lemon tea + bakery + retail + day tea night alcohol
6. Overseas Expansion Opportunity
   : Ningji’s first store in Sydney achieved GMV of over RMB 120,000 in 3 days, verifying overseas market potential

1. Slowing Industry Growth
   : Overall growth rate dropped to 6.4%, intensifying stock competition
2. Pressure from Leading Brands
   : Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, Guming, etc. may enter the lemon tea segment
3. Saturation of Store Density
   : 700 people per store on average, limiting expansion space
4. Continuous Store Closure Wave
   : Over 157,000 stores closed in the industry in 2025
5. Fluctuations in Raw Material Prices
   : Bergamot lemon prices are greatly affected by climate and supply-demand dynamics
6. Homogeneous Competition
   : Limited product innovation space for lemon tea, risk of price wars

---

2025 is an unprecedented “first year of tea beverage IPOs”, with four leading brands going public in quick succession:

Brand	Listing Date	Funds Raised	First-Day Performance
Mixue Ice Cream & Tea	March 3	Over HK$5 Billion	Market value exceeded HK$100 Billion
Guming	February 12	Over HK$4 Billion	Increase exceeded 150%
CHAGEE	April 17	USD 411 Million	Listed on NASDAQ
Aunt Shanghai	May 8	Over HK$1 Billion	Dark pool subscription oversubscribed 3,616 times

Assessment Dimension	Current Status	Listing Threshold	Gap Analysis
GMV Scale	RMB 2.7 Billion	Over RMB 5 Billion	Needs to double
Number of Stores	1,900+	5,000+	Needs to increase by 2.5 times
Profitability Level	Good (specific data not disclosed)	Sustained Profitability	To be verified
Brand Awareness	Regional Leading	Nationally Known	Needs improvement
Supply Chain Maturity	Excellent	Excellent	Meets requirements

Facing competition from leading brands, LINLEE needs to adopt a

:

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                LINLEE Differentiated Competition Strategy                │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                  │
│  [Strategy 1] Deepen Engagement in the Lemon Tea Niche Segment    │
│  ├─ Focus on formulating category standards for "hand-made lemon tea" │
│  ├─ Strengthen brand recognition of "Lemon Tea = LINLEE"          │
│  └─ Avoid direct competition with leading brands                  │
│                                                                  │
│  [Strategy 2] Monetize Emotional Consumption IP                   │
│  ├─ Shift from "giving away ducks" to "selling duck peripherals"  │
│  ├─ LINLEE Duck IP authorization and collaborations               │
│  └─ Build fan economy and private domain traffic                  │
│                                                                  │
│  [Strategy 3] Replicate Supply Chain Overseas                     │
│  ├─ Reproduce domestic supply chain advantages in Southeast Asia  │
│  ├─ Dislocation competition with leading brands in overseas markets │
│  └─ Refer to Ningji's Sydney store model                          │
│                                                                  │
│  [Strategy 4] Category Expansion and Scene Extension              │
│  ├─ Multi-product matrix of lemon tea + bakery + retail          │
│  ├─ All-day business models such as day tea and night alcohol     │
│  └─ Adapt to multiple store types including community stores, mall stores, office building stores │
│                                                                  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

---

: LINLEE has the potential to stand out in the lemon tea segment, but its IPO journey still faces challenges.

:
✅ The lemon tea segment has a chain rate of only 10%, providing huge integration space
✅ Solid supply chain barriers, with 96% cold chain coverage and 99.5% ordering stability rate
✅ Unique emotional consumption model, with the little yellow duck IP forming a brand moat
✅ Mature single store model with short payback period
✅ GMV of RMB 2.7 billion in 2025, in a high-growth phase

:
⚠️ Relatively limited scale, with a gap of more than 5 times compared to leading brands
⚠️ Valuation of nearly RMB 1 billion, with IPO valuation growth potential to be verified
⚠️ Single category, with risk resistance to be observed
⚠️ Industry growth slowed to 6.4%, increasing expansion difficulty

Risk Type	Specific Risk	Risk Level
Market Risk	Slowing growth of the tea beverage industry, intensifying stock competition	High
Competition Risk	Leading brands may enter the lemon tea segment	High
Operational Risk