Mixue

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea () is a Chinese multinational fast-food restaurant chain specializing in ice cream & tea-based drinks. Founded in 1997 by Zhang Hongchao in Zhengzhou, Henan, Mixue has expanded rapidly, with over 46,000 franchised locations across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Kazakhstan and Brazil.

Mixue is the world's largest fast-food chain by store locations, surpassing Starbucks and McDonald's.

The company is famous for low prices. In March 2024, Mixue ranked first among fresh beverage makers in China and second globally in terms of the number of outlets and cup delivery, and its market share in Southeast Asia ranked the top.

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is managed jointly by three companies: Mixue Ice Cream & Tea Co., Ltd., Henan Daga Food Co., Ltd., and Shangdao Intelligent Supply Chain Co., Ltd.

History

The Mixue Ice Cream & Tea brand was created in 1997 by Zhang Hongchao, a student at Henan University of Economics and Law. At the time, it was a street stall in Zhengzhou that sold shaved ice and cold drinks, which he started from a 3,000- yuan loan from his grandmother. Due to a lack of experience, Hongchao had closed three stores in a little more than a year. Following the closure of his third store, he went to Hefei in order to sell tanghulu, which also failed. In the spring of 1999, Hongchao returned to Zhengzhou to start a new cold drink shop, though this would also be demolished; the failures of these street stalls were attributed to poor locations and the ongoing urbanization in China.

In August 2003, Hongchao founded another Mixue store inside an abandoned aluminium factory. Due to its location near a school, the store gained a good reputation among students, and the business gradually stabilized, allowing him to franchise the store to different locations by 2007.

Timeline

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea began in 1997 when Zhang Hongchao opened the first location under the Mixue name. After six relocations, the first successful Mixue Ice Cream & Tea store opened in 2003. Around 2005 or 2006, the company introduced soft serve ice cream at the price of just 1 yuan, which quickly became a best-seller and its first signature product; by the first nine months of 2023, Mixue had sold approximately 442 million ice cream cones in China.

In 2007, Mixue began franchising after opening a new ice cream shop. The following year, it established Mixue Ice Cream & Tea Trading Co., Ltd. to manage its growing network of franchises. In 2012, Henan Daga Food Co., Ltd. was founded to support self-production of raw materials for the franchise, and by 2014, the company had developed the Mixue Ice Cream & Tea Logistics Park to streamline distribution as it continued expanding across China.

Mixue took its first step outside of China on September 5, 2018, with a store opening in Hanoi, Vietnam. Later that year, in November, it launched a new brand mascot, Snow King. Between May 24 and 26, 2019, the company hosted an "ice cream music festival" at Opalala Water Park in Zhengzhou, drawing over 30,000 visitors. On June 24, 2020, Mixue celebrated the opening of its 10,000th store in Yuanyang County, Henan, Xinxiang. That same year, it expanded into Indonesia with a branch in Cihampelas Walk, Bandung.

Mixue reportedly went public for the first time on September 30, 2021. In 2022, the company made significant purchases of over 9,000 tons of tea, benefiting around 50,000 tea farmers, while also supporting over 11,000 franchisees and generating more than 500,000 jobs. It launched a 6.5 million yuan scholarship program across five universities in Henan and expanded into additional Southeast Asian markets, opening stores in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, The Philippines, Laos, and Myanmar. By the end of 2022, Mixue had also entered South Korea and Japan.

In February 2023, the company debuted in Australia with a store in Sydney, followed by additional openings in Melbourne and Brisbane.

In March 2025, Mixue Group went public through an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising HK$3.45 billion (US$444 million). Later that year, it became the world's largest fast food chain, overtaking McDonald's.

Charity

In January 2020, Zhengzhou Cross-Straits Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., a company associated with Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, donated RMB6 million to Henan Provincial Charity Federation and RMB1 million to Wenxian Red Cross to support the resistance to COVID-19. Later on, in 2022, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a one-year reduction in the total amount of RMB200 million was made for all franchisees in operation since December 31, 2021. A "more than 50% material reduction" policy was introduced, including ingredients, packaging materials, consumables, and machinery.

In 2021, in Anyue County, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea built its base further, employing more than 6,500 fruit farmers to supply Mixue Ice Cream & Tea with lemons each year.

In July 2021, Henan Province was hit by extreme rainfall. Zhengzhou and nearby cities were hit by severe floods as a result. Mixue's headquarters, which were located in the center of the disaster, actively launched rescue and disaster relief operations. The company's Chinese Communist Party committee actively organized relief efforts. Mixue donated 20 million yuan in cash to the Zhengzhou Charity Association, and its wholly-owned subsidiary Daga International Food Co., Ltd. donated 2 million yuan to Henan's Wenxian. Subsequently, one million yuan was presented to the charitable associations of Zhoukou, Xinxiang, Hebi, and Anyang. A total of 26 million yuan was donated, and a relief command center was set up to mobilize Mixue-associated warehouses in China to aid disaster-stricken areas.

Controversies

Food safety

In December 2022, journalists from ''The Beijing News'' applied for jobs at two stores in Nanjing, where they were not required to sign labour contracts and discovered that "discarded" ingredients and "corner-cutting measures" were being used. The story was reported in March 2023, and as of March 14, 2023, the number of complaints on the Black Cat Complaint Platform reached 4,435, most of which were food safety issues.

Illegal use of child labour

According to China's national law, minors under 16 cannot be recruited for work, and the labor and social security administrative department can impose a penalty of 5,000 yuan per month for each child laborer hired. On April 2, 2022, a Mixue drink shop in Tiantai County was fined 12,500 yuan for the illegal use of child labor by the local comprehensive administrative enforcement bureau after hiring a 15-year-old girl. The owner of the punished franchise store admitted fault in an interview with the media and said he realized his mistake to hire the 15-year-old minor, but claimed that her family had abandoned the minor, and so he sympathetically let her work at his store. He confirmed that the minor had since left. In July of the same year, Liaocheng Chiping County Mixue drink shop was fined 5,000 yuan for the illegal use of child labor.

Halal certification in Indonesia

Mixue products in Indonesia have been certified halal since February 2023, after the Institute for Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Assessment of the Indonesian Ulema Council (LPPOM MUI) issued halal certification of ingredients used in their products. Before certification, Indonesians had questioned the absence of halal certification in Mixue's products.

References

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{{Food chains in the Philippines

Food and drink companies established in 1997
Restaurants established in 1997
Chinese companies established in 1997
Companies based in Zhengzhou
Restaurants in China
Restaurants in Indonesia
Ice cream parlors
Ice cream brands
Bubble tea brands
Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
2025 initial public offerings