Chinese milk tea brands dominate the billion-dollar market

As for Mixue, this Chinese milk tea chain now has more stores worldwide than McDonald's and Starbucks.

A Mixue store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China - Photo: AFP

According to a report by Fortune Business Insights, the global bubble tea market size is forecast to increase from $2.83 billion in 2025 to $4.78 billion in 2032.

So milk tea was initially just an entertainment drink for many people, but has now developed into a multi-billion dollar industry.

This year, three Chinese milk tea chains, Mixue Group, Guming Holdings and Auntea Jenny, all listed in Hong Kong and raised more than $700 million.

“It’s called right place, right time,” William Ma, chief investment officer at Grow Investment Group, told CNBC of the wave of investors betting on China’s fast-growing consumer market.

“Many investors are trying to invest in sectors that are less sensitive to US tariffs. So domestic consumption, young people’s consumption, is a more stable sector and less affected,” Mr. Ma added.

On August 18, shares of China's largest milk tea chain Mixue reached 455 HKD/share (about 58.9 USD), more than double the IPO offering price of 202.5 HKD (about 28.8 USD) in early March 2025.

“Investors are warming up the bubble tea market,” Longdley Zephirin, director and analyst at Zephirin Group, said at the time of Mixue’s IPO.

With most of Mixue's stores outside China exploding in number mainly in Southeast Asia, the beverage chain may follow Heytea's lead in expanding to Europe and the US, according to Mr. Zephirin.

Franchising plays a key role in the bubble tea industry. Most of the large bubble tea chains do not operate the stores themselves.

The parent company makes money by supplying raw materials, equipment, and collecting fees. The franchisee will pay for the rent, labor, and other costs.

“The typical payback period for franchise owners is 18 to 24 months,” Mr. Ma analyzed, adding that the store closure rate across the market is about 20%.

Mixue's number of stores exceeds McDonald's and Starbucks

By the end of 2024, Mixue will have more than 46,000 stores worldwide . This makes Mixue the world's largest food and beverage chain by number of stores - surpassing McDonald's, Starbucks and Subway.

Mixue has about 4,792 stores located in 11 countries outside China. Indonesia and Vietnam are the chain's two largest markets, with 2,667 and 1,304 stores, respectively.

Mixue opened its first store in Vietnam in 2018. While Starbucks and McDonalds have a long-standing presence in Southeast Asian countries, they only have 10,000 and 9,100 stores across the region, respectively.

In Indonesia, Mixue has become a trend on social media platforms. People here joke that whenever there is an empty space in the area, there is a high chance that a Mixue store will open there.

NGHI VU

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cac-thuong-hieu-tra-sua-trung-quoc-thong-tri-thi-truong-ti-usd-20250818162955643.htm