How Mixue’s Ultra-Low-Cost Model Upended Global Food Chains
Mixue Ice Cream & Tea now boasts 53,000 outlets worldwide—more than McDonald’s with 43,500. Founded in China’s Henan province, Mixue owes much of its surge to a 15-cent ice cream cone. But this is not just about cheap treats—it’s about a supply chain and franchise system fine-tuned for relentless scaling.
Mixue’s March 2025 IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange raised $450 million, 5,000 times oversubscribed, reflecting faith in its unique growth engine. It plans to enter the U.S. market soon, signaling ambition to replicate its Asian success globally. The secret lies in leveraging cost advantages by vertically integrating ingredient sourcing and logistics, enabling prices rivals can’t match.
But Mixue’s rise isn’t a simple race to the bottom. It’s a strategic reset of supply chain and franchise operations to reduce dependency on middlemen and enable rapid, consistent expansion. “Profit margins are typically tight in food and beverage,” says Emil Fazira at Euromonitor International, but Mixue’s tightly knit sourcing network changes the game.
“The right supply chain creates compounding edge, not just cost savings.”
Cheap Isn’t Cutting It: The Myth of Price-Only Growth
Industry observers assume Mixue rides a cheap cone wave, competing primarily on price. That’s why many discount chains struggle to scale profitably. This conventional wisdom misses that Mixue rebuilt its entire input pipeline—centralized factories, cold-chain logistics, and direct sourcing from farmers—cutting middlemen costs drastically.
This vertical integration works as constraint repositioning: not just controlling costs, but owning ingredient flow to power franchisees fast and fresh. Unlike Krispy Kreme or Dunkin’ which rely on third-party suppliers, Mixue’s system requires upfront infrastructure investment but yields massive leverage once established. This is a case where a repository of physical assets creates barriers competitors cannot cross cheaply or quickly, similar to how OpenAI scaled user growth by building foundational technology rather than buying users.
Franchise as a Force Multiplier: More Than Just Branding
Mixue operates 23,404 franchises worldwide but gains leverage by selling equipment and ingredients directly to them. This turns franchisees into recurring revenue streams beyond just royalties. The system locks in quality and cost control, enabling 40% year-over-year revenue jumps.
Unlike beverage-only chains like Heytea, Mixue bundles beverages with desserts, widening its addressable market. This hybrid perishable product strategy drives repeated foot traffic and captures larger consumer spend per visit. Competitors chasing novelty or premium margins miss this steady volume lever.
This echoes insights from Think in Leverage on how systematizing key touchpoints converts one-off buyers into durable revenue.
Beyond Ice Cream: Diversifying for Leverage and Longevity
Mixue is not resting on soft serve success. The group’s coffee brand Lucky Cup targets all-day beverage consumption at 90 cents a cup, expanding locations beyond China into Malaysia. Entry into beer with Fulu Fresh, priced roughly $1.11 a bottle, shows Mixue’s intent to build convergent beverage ecosystems where sales inputs and customers cross-pollinate.
This product diversification mirrors how tech giants diversify features or services to increase user stickiness and platform value. By controlling supply chains across categories, Mixue locks in incremental leverage usually unseen in traditional F&B scaling.
Similar to how Tesla turned proprietary battery and manufacturing integration into an insurmountable advantage, Mixue’s end-to-end ingredient control anchors its global expansion.
What Operators Must Watch Next
Mixue’s rise exposes a critical constraint in fast casual dining: supply chain ownership. Competing on price alone is a losing game without infrastructure that flexibly supports rapid outlet growth.
Brands targeting emerging and established markets must consider building or acquiring supply chain capacity early. This translates into tighter margins but gives compounding scaling power hard to replicate.
Mixue’s footprint across Asia and entry into New York City signals a new era where cost leadership and system depth converge globally. “Scaling ingredients wins scalably—franchises then multiply that impact,” Fazira notes.
Operators ignoring supply chain leverage risk missing the biggest game-changing pivot in food retail since McDonald’s pioneered franchising itself decades ago.
Related Tools & Resources
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many Mixue outlets are there worldwide?
Mixue Ice Cream & Tea boasts 53,000 outlets globally, surpassing McDonald’s 43,500 locations, reflecting its rapid expansion and unique growth strategy.
What makes Mixue’s ultra-low-cost model successful?
Mixue achieves its low prices by vertically integrating ingredient sourcing and logistics, cutting out middlemen and controlling supply chains to scale profitably.
Where did Mixue originate and where is it expanding?
Founded in Henan province, China, Mixue has expanded across Asia and plans to enter the U.S. market soon, including New York City, signaling its global ambitions.
How does Mixue’s franchise system work?
Mixue operates 23,404 franchises worldwide, selling equipment and ingredients directly, creating recurring revenue streams and enabling 40% year-over-year revenue growth.
What product diversification has Mixue introduced?
Beyond ice cream, Mixue offers coffee under the Lucky Cup brand at 90 cents and beer through Fulu Fresh at about $1.11, aiming to build convergent beverage ecosystems.
What was notable about Mixue’s 2025 IPO?
Mixue’s March 2025 IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange raised $450 million and was oversubscribed 5,000 times, showing strong investor confidence in its business model.
Why is supply chain ownership critical in food retail according to Mixue’s example?
Mixue’s success shows that owning supply chains creates compounding advantages that support rapid outlet growth and consistent quality, unlike competing on price alone.
How does Mixue compare to competitors like Krispy Kreme or Dunkin’?
Unlike Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’, which rely on third-party suppliers, Mixue controls its entire ingredient flow, enabling faster expansion and significant cost advantages.