A Chinese ice cream chain, powered by super-cheap cones, now has more outlets than McDonald’s

In 1997, faculty faculty scholar Zhang Hongchao opened a small shaved-ice retailer in Henan, then one among China’s poorest provinces, with cash lent by his grandmother. Practically 30 years later, Zhang and his brother Hongfu, Mixue’s CEO, are value some $8.2 billion every. Zhang’s shaved-ice retailer, now known as Mixue Ice Cream & Tea and recognized for its mushy serve and drinks, has extra places globally (53,000) than McDonald’s (43,500). Its IPO in March on the Hong Kong Inventory Change raised HK$3.45 billion ($450 million)—the fifth largest in Hong Kong within the first half of 2025—and was oversubscribed 5,000 occasions. Mixue is predicted to open its first U.S. location in New York Metropolis, having reportedly signed a 10-year lease on Canal Avenue.

Mixue’s speedy scaling world wide displays the energy of its provide chain, its progress through a franchise mannequin, and its viral branding, however it additionally speaks to the exceptional endurance of Zhang’s early resolution to win over cost-conscious consumers with an ice cream cone that prices simply 15 cents.

For these within the know, a Mixue retailer is immediately recognizable. Its glowing brand and signature crimson inside drew a crowd on a Friday afternoon in November in Hong Kong’s central purchasing district. In a metropolis recognized for its luxurious purchasing, Mixue’s menu costs additionally stand out: a juicy grape burst for the equal of $1.67, pearl milk tea for $2.06, and soft-serve ice cream for 64 cents, cheaper even than McDonald’s $1.09 Sundae cone. On a poster, the model’s mascot, Snow King, holds a milk tea and winks. “With Mixue in hand, pleasure is grand,” it reads.

Mixue’s latest fortunes are grand certainly. Within the first half of 2025, Mixue reported 14.9 billion yuan ($2 billion) in income, up 40% from the earlier yr’s interval. Its firsthalf revenue of two.7 billion yuan ($370 million) is tiny in contrast with, say, McDonald’s first-quarter revenue of $1.9 billion, however it represents 44% progress from the yr prior. (Mixue didn’t return requests for remark.)

Affordability has at all times been a draw for Mixue— even when the worth of its 15 cent cone has ticked up—however there’s extra to the ice cream and beverage chain than low cost treats.

As Mixue expanded, it confronted ingredient shortages, which prompted Zhang to begin sourcing the chain’s uncooked supplies immediately from farmers and producers. In 2012 it established centralized factories and later arrange warehouses and coldchain logistics to ship substances like frozen fruit pulps and contemporary strawberry and mango cubes to franchisees. (It now has 23,404 worldwide.) That reduces intermediary prices, serving to Mixue maintain its costs low and its merchandise contemporary. When Mixue went public in March, it mentioned that roughly 66% of the web proceeds from the providing could be used to widen and deepen its end-to-end provide chains.

Mixue’s shut relationship with ingredient producers and suppliers provides it a price benefit that opponents wrestle to duplicate. “After they open extra retailers, they’ll instantly ship out all these provides, substances…So revenue margins are fairly tight, and [food and beverage] manufacturers sometimes discover it difficult to handle this,” says Emil Fazira, Asia Pacific meals perception supervisor at Euromonitor Worldwide.

Mixue’s franchise mannequin can be a moneymaker in that it sells tools and substances to its franchisees. It cites such gross sales as a driver of its 40% year-overyear income progress within the first half of this yr.

By providing each desserts and drinks, Mixue differentiates itself from opponents that simply promote drinks. The candy deal with is without doubt one of the quickest rising product classes in Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia, Fazira notes.

Whereas ice cream is often perceived as a extra indulgent deal with, Mixue’s extra reasonably priced and accessible mushy serve, in contrast with sit-down ice cream parlors, makes it “a bit extra distinctive,” Fazira says.

Simply as distinctive are Mixue’s advertising and marketing techniques. In China, shops turned gross sales receipts into serialized fiction, printing 20 chapters of a compelling narrative that includes its mascot, Snow King, and sparking a nationwide craze.

Overseas, Mixue is participating customers with video games and presents. Andrian Lim, a online game streamer based mostly in Malaysia, joined a Mixue Instagram Reel problem in September to complete a mint lemonade in 45 seconds. The 31-year-old was amongst dozens who braved stinging mind freeze to win an unique Snow King foldable bag.

“I like to problem myself to the restrict, only for the enjoyable of it,” says Lim, who “fell in love” with Mixue’s jasmine tea—and its low cost worth.

Trying forward, Mixue plans to fulfill the all-day beverage calls for of customers by increasing its stand-alone espresso retailers and introducing beer. Mixue’s espresso chain, Fortunate Cup, which sells freshly brewed espresso for six yuan (90 cents), just lately entered Malaysia after establishing a foothold of 8,000 places in China. In September, Mixue Group acquired 53% fairness in Chinese language draft beer firm Fulu Contemporary Beer, helmed by Hongfu’s spouse, Tian Haixia.

“[Mixue] is attempting to enter new pockets of alternative…It’s , or at the least eager to know, that space of product diversification,” Fazira says.

And naturally, Mixue’s new beer is prone to be low cost. Fulu Contemporary sells for 7.9 yuan or $1.11 a pop.

This text seems within the December 2025/January 2026 subject of Fortune with the headline “Mixue’s scorching streak.”