A small restaurant in Henan province, China, once selling cheap soft serve for 1 yuan per cone, has grown into the world’s largest food and beverage chain by number of stores. Mixue Bingcheng, which translates to Honey Snow Ice City, boasts over 45,000 outlets worldwide as of last September.
The budget-friendly drinks giant saw its shares jump 40% on Monday after raising $444 million in an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong. The IPO was the biggest listing in Hong Kong so far this year and the fifth-largest over the past year.
Mixue’s affordable drinks, priced between 2 to 8 yuan per serving, have attracted a massive customer base across China since its founding nearly three decades ago. The company’s signature theme song and snowman mascot have become recognizable symbols of the brand.
Founded by Zhang Hongchao in 1997 as a shaved ice shop, Mixue initially struggled before finding success with cheap soft serve cones. The company expanded rapidly, growing from fewer than 10,000 shops in 2019 to over 45,000 outlets worldwide today.
Overwhelming demand for the company’s shares has led investors to bet on its future growth, particularly overseas expansion. With most of its revenue coming from selling food materials and equipment to franchisees, Mixue aims to outmaneuver rivals in China’s competitive tea market.
The company’s IPO has given co-founders Zhang Hongchao and Zhang Hongfu a combined fortune of $8.1 billion, making them richer than Starbucks’ former CEO Howard Schultz. With its vast scale, Mixue is poised to capitalize on the growing demand for bubble tea, with sales expected to balloon to $66.5 billion by 2027.
While Mixue has more outlets than McDonald’s and Starbucks globally, its sales still trail those of other major brands. However, the company’s focus on affordability and value-for-money proposition has helped it scale beyond competitors in China’s fiercely competitive tea market.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/03/business/china-mixue-bingcheng-ipo-expansion-intl-hnk/index.html