The company is famous for low prices. The statistical data for March 2024 shows that in terms of the number of outlets and cup delivery, Mixue ranks first among fresh beverage makers in China and second globally in the product category, and its market share in Southeast Asia ranked the top.[7]
Mixue Ice Cream & Tea is managed jointly by three companies: Mixue Ice Cream & Tea Co., Ltd., Henan Daga Food Co., Ltd., and Shangdao Intelligent Supply Chain Co., Ltd.[2]
History
Mixue's mascot, "Snow King" (雪王)
The Mixue Ice Cream & Tea brand was created in 1997 by Zhang Hongchao, a student at Henan University of Economics and Law.[8] At the time, it was a street stall in Zhengzhou that sold shaved ice and cold drinks, which he started from a 3,000-yuan loan from his grandmother.[9] Due to a lack of experience, Zhang had closed 3 stores in a little more than a year. Following the closure of his third store, Zhang went to Hefei in order to sell ice sugar gourd, which also failed.[10] In the spring of 1999, Zhang Hongchao returned to Zhengzhou to start a new cold drink shop, though this would also be demolished; the failures of these street stalls were attributed to poor locations and the ongoing urbanization in China.[10]
In August 2003, Zhang founded another Mixue store inside an abandoned aluminium factory.[11] Due to its location near a school, the store gained a good reputation among students, and the business gradually stabilized,[12][13] allowing Zhang to franchise the store to different locations by 2007.[14]
Timeline
1997: Zhang Hongchao opens the first location under the Mixue name.[9]
2003: The first successful Mixue Ice Cream & Tea opens after 6 relocations.[8][10]
2005 (or 2006[15]): The company began selling soft serve ice cream for as little as 1 yuan, which quickly became a sales hit and its first signature product.[16] In the first nine months of 2023, the company sold around 442 million ice cream cones in China.[7]
2007: Mixue Ice Cream & Tea opens a new ice cream shop, and the business begins the process of franchising to different locations.
2008: In response to the increasing number of franchises, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea Trading Co., Ltd. is established.[14]
2012: Henan Daga Food Co., Ltd. is established to facilitate self-production of raw materials for the franchise.
2014: Mixue Ice Cream & Tea Logistics Park is developed to facilitate distribution. Mixue Ice Cream & Tea continues developing and franchising throughout China.
September 5, 2018: The first location outside of China opens in Hanoi, Vietnam.[17]
November 2018: A new brand and mascot, Snow King, was officially launched.[18][19]
May 24–26, 2019: An "ice cream music festival" was held in Opalala Water Park, Zhengzhou. The festival received more than 30,000 visitors and gave the audience a full-scale eating and drinking experience.[20]
2022: Mixue Ice Cream & Tea purchases more than 9,000 tons of tea, increasing the income of 50,000 tea farmers and providing a platform for more than 11,000 franchisees to start their own businesses and create more than 500,000 jobs. The 6.5 million yuan "Mixue Ice Cream & Tea Scholarship" was launched in five universities in Henan Province.[22] Throughout the year, Mixue opened hundreds of outlets in other Southeast countries such as Malaysia, Singapore,[23]Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.[24] At the end of 2022, Mixue opened branches in South Korea and Japan.[25][26]
From April 30 to May 1, 2023, the Mixue Ice Cream & Tea Ice Cream Festival opened in Mayan Beach Water Park in Wuhan, Hubei Province.
Charity
In January 2020, Zhengzhou Cross-Straits Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., a company associated with Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, donated RMB6 million to Henan Provincial Charity Federation and RMB1 million to Wenxian Red Cross to support the resistance to COVID-19.[28] Later on, in 2022, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a one-year reduction in the total amount of RMB200 million was made for all franchisees in operation since December 31, 2021. A "more than 50% material reduction" policy was introduced, including ingredients, packaging materials, consumables, and machinery.[29]
In 2021, in Anyue County, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea built its base further, employing more than 6,500 fruit farmers to supply Mixue Ice Cream & Tea with lemons each year.[30]
In July 2021, Henan Province was hit by extreme rainfall. Zhengzhou and nearby cities were hit by severe floods as a result. Mixue's headquarters, which were located in the center of the disaster, actively launched rescue and disaster relief operations. The company's Chinese Communist Party committee was active in organizing relief efforts.[31] Mixue donated 20 million yuan in cash to the Zhengzhou Charity Association, and its wholly-owned subsidiary Daga International Food Co., Ltd. donated 2 million yuan to Henan's Wenxian. Subsequently, one million yuan was presented to the charitable associations of Zhoukou, Xinxiang, Hebi, and Anyang. A total of 26 million yuan was donated, and a relief command center was set up to mobilize Mixue-associated warehouses in China to aid disaster-stricken areas.[32][33]
Controversies
Food safety
In December 2022, journalists from the Beijing News applied for jobs at two stores in Nanjing, where they were not required to sign labour contracts and discovered that "discarded" ingredients and "corner-cutting measures" were being used. The story was reported in March 2023, and as of March 14, 2023, the number of complaints on the Black Cat Complaint Platform reached 4,435, most of which were food safety issues.[34]
Illegal use of child labour
According to China's national law, minors who are under the age of 16 cannot be recruited for work, and the labor and social security administrative department can impose a penalty of 5,000 yuan per month for each child laborer hired.[35][36][37] On April 2, 2022, a Mixue drink shop in Tiantai County was fined 12,500 yuan for the illegal use of child labor by the local comprehensive administrative enforcement bureau after hiring a 15-year-old girl.[38] The owner of the punished franchise store admitted fault in an interview with the media and said he realized his mistake to hire the 15-year-old minor, but claimed that the minor had been abandoned by her family, and so he sympathetically let her work at his store. He confirmed that the minor had since left.[35] In July of the same year, LiaochengChiping County Mixue drink shop was fined 5,000 yuan for the illegal use of child labor.[39]
Halal certification in Indonesia
Mixue products in Indonesia have been certified Halal since February 2023, after the Institute for Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Assessment of the Indonesian Ulema Council (LPPOM MUI) issued halal certification of ingredients used in their products.[40][41]
Before certification, Indonesians had questioned the absence of halal certification in Mixue's products.[42] According to PT Zhisheng Pacific Trading, the franchiser of Mixue in Indonesia, Mixue Indonesia has made efforts to obtain halal certification since 2021. However, the certification process was halted in the halal consultation stage due to several factors; concerns were brought up due to the fact that 90% of Mixue's ingredients are from China, the source of the ingredients was not centralized in one whole region, and strict health measures and protocols were required at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic in China.[43] In response to these concerns, the Halal Product Assurance Organizing Body and the Ministry of Religious Affairs requested that Mixue not indicate that their products are halal before certification was completed.[44][45]
