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Alice Li

Three months after moving from China to Japan, Alisa Lin has yet to buy a single drink from Mixue – the Chinese ice cream and tea giant – despite being a frequent customer back home, where a cup costs under five yuan (73 US cents) during promotions.
“It’s not a very popular brand here. Only one of my friends in Japan has ever bought it,” Lin said, adding that value for money was the main consideration behind her own consumer choices in Tokyo. While Mixue’s basic teas are cheap, a plain bubble tea still costs about 400 yen (US$2.46) in Japan – comparable to peers offering more inventive flavours like mango.
“I would definitely choose the latter over Mixue, given there’s no big difference in price,” she said.
Mixue, known for its affordable products, has rapidly moved into overseas markets in recent years. By replicating its domestic strategy, particularly in developing countries, the company has come to represent how some Chinese consumer brands expand globally by winning over customers with low prices.
But that playbook is now being tested in more mature markets. Three years after entering Japan, Mixue still operated only four stores in the country, far short of its initial target of 1,000 outlets by 2028, Japanese media outlet Nikkei reported in late June.
The company also made a high-profile entry into Hong Kong in late 2023, opening nine stores in its first year. But it closed a third of its outlets within the first six months of 2026, with its store in Tsim Sha Tsui the latest to close, according to local media last month.
Analysts said these setbacks had highlighted the need for Chinese brands going global to move beyond competing on price alone, recognising that such a strategy was far from a one-size-fits-all formula.
“For a consumer-facing brand like Mixue, key determinants of opportunity in any foreign market are the strength of local incumbents, the underlying cost structure including rent and labour, and consumer price sensitivity,” said Alfredo Montufar-Helu, the China-based managing director at Ankura Consulting.


He added that Mixue held a distinct advantage in developing markets because of fragmented local competition, lower operating costs and consumers attracted to low prices.
But Hong Kong and Japan presented a different reality. In mature markets, brands were “more likely to have established local and international competitors, even at the affordable end of the market”, Montufar-Helu said.
In 2025, Mixue Group – which operates its flagship brand Mixue, Lucky Cup coffee and Fulu Fresh Beer – had 4,467 stores overseas.
While the company’s latest annual report did not provide a detailed regional breakdown, its Hong Kong listing prospectus showed that Indonesia and Vietnam together accounted for more than 70 per cent of the firm’s overseas revenue.
Building on its success in Southeast Asia, Mixue also entered the United States late last year with stores in New York and Los Angeles, as a wave of Chinese drink chains gains momentum in the country.
However, David Zhang, a macroeconomics and policy analyst at Trivium China, cautioned that store traffic did not necessarily translate into profits for bricks-and-mortar operators, especially in high-cost markets. By contrast, Chinese e-commerce companies had been able to expand overseas through high-volume, low-margin models, he said.
Citing Mixue’s slow expansion in Japan, Zhang noted that while local consumers clearly valued affordability, as seen in the strong convenience store and vending machine culture, such options were already widely available.
“Chinese brands have to offer something more, such as a more localised menu or a more distinctive in-store experience,” he said, adding that this would require continual adaptation, deeper research into consumer trends and greater innovation.
“These are bound to be difficult for latecomers in mature markets, but necessary for scalability.”


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Slow expansion in Japan and store closures in Hong Kong suggest low prices may not be enough to win over consumers in mature economies


Slow expansion in Japan and store closures in Hong Kong suggest low prices may not be enough to win over consumers in mature economies.


Can China’s budget brands crack developed markets? Mixue shows it won’t be easy

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Slow expansion in Japan and store closures in Hong Kong suggest low prices may not be enough to win over consumers in mature economies

Slow expansion in Japan and store closures in Hong Kong suggest low prices may not be enough to win over consumers in mature economies