Mixue
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Mixue (Simplified Chinese: 蜜雪冰城; Pinyin: Mìxuě bīngchéng; also Mixue Bingcheng) is a Chinese beverage brand known for high-volume, value-priced made-to-order tea and ice drinks. On Chinese Food Wiki it appears as a category-contrast entry under Chinese Drink.
History and expansion
Business roots trace to 1997 in Zhengzhou, Henan, when Zhang Hongchao began a shaved-ice / cold-drink stall; the Mixue name was adopted around 1999, and brother Zhang Hongfu later joined the growing franchise system. Vertical supply-chain control—selling ingredients and equipment to franchisees—became as central to the model as store count itself.
By the 2020s Mixue was routinely described as one of China’s largest freshly made tea and ice-cream drink networks by outlet numbers, with thousands of overseas shops especially in Southeast Asia. Mixue Group listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 3 March 2025; debut coverage highlighted strong first-day gains and a large franchise-plus-supply narrative. Mascot “Snow King” (雪王) functions as both brand mark and widely recognized street IP.
Products and brand style
Typical price points sit near the bottom of the made-to-order tea spectrum (often cited around a few dollars or less per cup in international commentary). Core categories include iced fruit drinks, milk teas, lemon teas, and soft-serve ice cream—formats that relate to Bubble Tea shop culture without claiming premium leaf storytelling. The brand illustrates the mass / value end that complements mid- and premium-positioned peers such as Heytea and Nayuki. Traditional Tea leaf service remains a separate topic.
Culture and collaborations
Mixue’s cultural footprint includes the Snow King character, franchise street presence in lower-tier cities, and occasional campaign collabs. Franchise counts and campaign calendars change frequently; prefer dated, sourced notes on Drink IP Collab Timeline for collaboration phenomena. Encyclopedia contrast with Guming and Auntea Jenny helps readers map mid-price and value tea retail on the same hub page.
For food-culture readers, Mixue’s importance is the demonstration that ice-cream-and-tea value retail can outscale many premium tea cafés through franchise logistics. The Snow King mascot and low ticket sizes make the brand highly visible in lower-tier urban streetscapes mapped under Chinese Drink.
See also
References
- Mixue Group Hong Kong IPO prospectus and listing-day coverage (HKEX listing 3 March 2025).
- Forbes and Caixin reporting on founders Zhang Hongchao / Zhang Hongfu and franchise economics.
- Company and prospectus narratives of 1997 Zhengzhou origins and Snow King branding.