Mixue Bingcheng Expands Overseas Markets! Current Status of New-Style Tea Drinks and Milk Tea Markets in Asian Countries: Japan, South Korea, and Thailand

Mixue Expands to Japan Following Korean Debut

Recently, Mixue, the Chinese new-tea retail chain giant that had just opened its first store in South Korea, set its next overseas expansion target on Japan. Reports from China Beverage Express say Mixue's entry into Japan has been confirmed, with the first store location already decided.

Sources say an account with the Mixue Snow King avatar and the username "MIXUE.Japan" posted a "late-night announcement" on social media. The post revealed that Mixue's first store in Japan has been locked in the Omotesando area of Tokyo. The post also stated that the account is the only official account for Mixue Japan and that Mixue Japan will not proactively issue information about franchise recruitment or hiring. As of now, there has been no official news about the opening date of the Japanese store.

Mixue had already spread its network across Southeast Asia but had not yet entered Japan. The news of its imminent entry has sparked intense discussion among netizens, who have expressed great anticipation.

In the accompanying image for the announcement, the Snow King can be seen adapting to local customs with a small change, wearing a Japanese hachimaki, a long cotton strip worn on the head that often appears in Japanese festivals and carries the meaning of determined will. Clearly, Mixue is approaching its overseas expansion with determined will and full fighting spirit.

Mixue's Global Expansion Journey

Opening stores in Japan is not Mixue's first overseas venture. As early as 4 years ago, Mixue had already embarked on the path of expanding overseas, frequently venturing abroad. In 2018, under its English brand name "MIXUE," it opened its first store in Hanoi, Vietnam. According to media reports, the first overseas store in Hanoi often sold out its daily stock, with nearly 1,400 cups sold per day, before the company subsequently expanded to Indonesia.

In December 2021, Mixue opened stores in Malaysia, and in February 2022 it began its expansion into Singapore. By June of this year, the number of Mixue's overseas stores had already exceeded 1,000.

Mixue's Asian Market Strategy

As early as in the prospectus pre-disclosed in September, Mixue had already confirmed that it would open new markets in Japan and South Korea. In the middle and late part of last month it had already entered the South Korean market, opening stores near Chung-Ang University, but there has been no news of store openings in Japan yet. According to posts from Chinese netizens studying in Korea, Mixue's signature "lemon water" sells for 2,000 Korean won in South Korea, equivalent to about 10 yuan. Although slightly higher than the domestic price in China, it is already an affordable price compared with local Korean milk tea brands.

Many netizens on social platforms have posted: "Mixue is so crowded, it seems to have stolen all the business from nearby stores." Others have said: "When Mixue opened in South Korea, the milk tea store next door closed directly." This shows that the Snow King's overseas expansion is also very well received by foreign consumers.

Mixue's Business Model and Future Plans

Mixue is the largest ready-to-drink chain enterprise in China in terms of store count, scale, and brand influence. Public data shows that Mixue currently has a total of 22,276 stores. It has always built its ready-to-drink tea chain brand "Mixue," its ready-ground coffee chain brand "Lucky Coffee," and its ready-to-drink ice cream chain brand "Polar Diagram" through the model of "direct-operated chains as guidance, with franchise chains as the main body."

As its domestic market scale gradually expands and before reaching the domestic market ceiling, founder Zhang Hongfu had already planned ahead, leading Mixue to expand beyond national borders.

Image source: Internet

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