Our Mission

Cha Community's mission is to bridge cultures and to create community through premium boba tea, pan-fried dumplings, and fast-casual Taiwanese and Chinese food. Our values are community, diversity, and courage.

We believe that community begins within. Therefore, we start with bridging cultures and creating community amongst our team. This includes intentional and strategic recruitment and staffing, working to provide living wages to team members, trainings to equip our team, and community-focused team gatherings.

As our team is equipped and empowered, we are able to then extend community to guests. Guest care includes hospitality at our boba tea cafes and food and tea truck events. We host in-person Dumpling Night Workshops in our shops throughout the year and provide at-home dumpling and boba-making kit experiences. Catering and pop-ups at events provides community connection points through our food & drinks. We also strive to care for our guests virtually by creating quality content that connect with our mission & values on our social media & newsletter channels.

As we care for our team and guests, we are then able to extend further care and support for the communities we are a part of.

Our care of communities includes involvement in the Waco Green Business Alliance and sustainability efforts throughout the City of Waco, giving portions of our profit to support local non-profit organizations and to use our resources, including our shop spaces and social media platforms, to highlight and collaborate with fellow small businesses and non-profits. Community care also includes advocacy work at both local, state, and national levels in the areas of belonging, the food and beverage industry, small business, Asian American representation, and immigrant-owned businesses.

Our Cha co-owners are also extensively involved in co-creating community with local Asian American leaders in Waco through the Asian Leaders Network non-profit organization that they helped to co-found.

The values of community and diversity go hand in hand.

We seek to co-create a diverse team and guest base to welcome people from diverse backgrounds and to bridge racial and cultural divides. We actively seek to create and promote an environment that is inclusive and celebrates individuals’ unique strengths and gifts. We strive to respect and embrace diversity in each other, our guests, suppliers, and others with whom we interact as an essential component in the way we do business.

Our diversity-related community work includes collaborations and sponsorships with non-profits and organizations founded and/or owned by historically underrepresented populations. This includes hosting Profit Shares for organizations and also stocking merchandise from local artists/creators of diverse backgrounds within our shop.

Our co-owners regularly participate in local, state, and national-level anti-Asian racism panel discussions, Asian American heritage panels, community development of the Waco-area Asian Leaders Network non-profit organization, community-wide panels, and boards connected to the topics of Inclusion and Belonging, Sustainability, Asian American leadership, and Minority-Owned small business advocacy.

Twice a year, we host Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) markets at our Waco shop to a platform and space for fellow BIPOC/minority-owned small businesses and artists to start up and pop-up at our shop space!

We seek to show up, take risks, and be daring about who we are in our team, business, relationships, events, and in the products we create. Bridging cultures and creating community takes courage and we seek to walk out in this value by trying new things as a small business and pursuing progress over perfection.

We desire to create premium, authentic menu items and events that stay true to our cultural roots while also bringing in creative twists to bridge cultures. Even when we face difficulties, we desire to be an organization that rises up and continues moving forward in creativity.

Courage includes talking about important issues relating to diverse cultures and inviting guests to do so as well. The value of courage shows up amongst our team through the ways we encourage team member's to utilize their leadership gifts and strengths. We encourage and invite guests to continue being leaders in their own communities through community, events, social media, and content we create.

Read more in our Press page about the ways Cha Community has walked out in the values Community, Diversity, & Courage.