McDonald’s who? Starbucks where? As of September 2024, the bubble tea and ice cream chain, Mixue (pronounced “me-shway”), has more than 45,000 stores — making it the world’s biggest fast food chain by store count, without a single location in the U.S. Surpassing both Starbucks and McDonalds, which account for about 40,000 and 41,000 store locations worldwide, respectively, Mixue was founded by two brothers in China’s Henan province in 1997 and has since expanded its footprint around the Chinese mainland and across Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, and Australia.
When Mixue first debuted on Hong Kong’s stock market this morning, its 17.1 million shares amounted to 3.45 billion Hong Kong dollars — the equivalent of $444 million. That’s all off of selling $1 ice cream and $2 drinks, which customers in Singapore told Business Insider is Mixue’s main draw. The cheapest item on its menu is a vanilla cone, affectionately called the Signature King Cone in honor of the chain’s crowned snowman mascot, for 1.50 Singapore dollars or $1.10.
But customers can also enjoy other flavors of ice cream sundaes and milkshakes for less, too. Most of Mixue’s boba tea drink flavors are priced between 2.50 and 3.50 Singapore dollars, but the most expensive is the cheese strawberry drink, which costs 4 Singapore dollars, or about $3. The drink comes with a creamy cheese foam and free edible tapioca pearls. Its friendly prices, along with a combination of branding through catchy tunes and viral TikTok videos, has made Mixue the go-to bubble tea brand in Asia.
What makes Mixue different from other bubble tea brands?
Both China and Asia at large are booming with boba tea cafes, and whether in Beijing or Shanghai, boba drinkers are never short on options for where to get their fix. But as other brands have focused on offering a premium boba-drinking experience — often accompanied by premium boba prices — Mixue has succeeded in establishing itself as the more economic option among customers. By maintaining a focus on small shops in high traffic areas, and on college campuses specifically, Mixue isn’t necessarily the place you go to sit down and catch up with friends. Rather, all of the chain’s 20 locations in Singapore operate as to-go counters.
In which case, its fans aren’t looking for the “cream of the crop of drinks,” as one customer told Business Insider. They just want something tasty to sip on their way home. For that, the Mixue menu isn’t short on choices. Divided into categories of fresh ice cream, fruit tea, milk tea, coffee, and fresh tea, some of the brand’s loyal customers said that their go to orders included the Taro Milk Tea, which sells for 3 Singapore dollars, and the Kiwi Oolong Tea, which sells for 3.50. But customers will also be enticed by options like the Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea, the Hawaiian Fruit Tea, and the many delicious flavors of boba ice cream sundaes, milkshakes, and boba toppings that Mixue has for them to choose from.
