Mixue Icecream (iPad)

The Rise of Mixue Ice Cream: How a $1 Cone Conquered the World

Mixue’s menu is divided primarily into two categories: and Tea & Beverages .

For context: Starbucks has roughly 38,000 stores globally . Mixue is nearly there, and it did it in half the time. mixue icecream

Here is everything you need to know about the brand, the viral menu items, and how they manage to sell ice cream for less than the price of a bottle of water.

Behind the scenes, Mixue's growth is driven by a unique franchise model. The company acts more like a supply chain manager than just a retail store, with a, relatively speaking, low entrance fee (around RMB 10,000 for some franchises). The Rise of Mixue Ice Cream: How a

Founded in 1997 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is a brand that focuses on high-quality, ultra-affordable ice cream, tea, and fruit drinks.

Known for being incredibly refreshing and affordable. The Mixue Franchise Model: A Low-Cost Empire Here is everything you need to know about

What Zhang understood — before Harvard MBAs wrote case studies about it — is that . It’s a daily ritual for people who work hard. His customers weren’t Instagram foodies. They were students, taxi drivers, factory workers, and grandmas taking grandkids for a walk.

But Zhang Hongchao, now a billionaire several times over, has a quiet answer. In a rare 2023 interview, he said: “I don’t want to be the Apple of ice cream. I want to be the chopsticks of ice cream — everywhere, useful, and nobody thinks about it twice.”