Thought Macca’s was the biggest food chain on the planet? They are but a mere CEO’s bite in a poorly thought-out Big Arch promotional video. There’s an even bigger behemoth out there, and it’s likely you’ve never even heard of it. Mixue is the Chinese mega-chain that has been quietly expanding across Australia since 2023, opening its newest store in Adelaide’s Chinatown this month. 

Credit: Getty Images

What is Mixue?

Mixue (pronounced mee-shoo) is a massive Chinese soft-serve ice cream and tea-based beverage chain. With around 53,000 stores worldwide, Mixue is the world’s largest fast-food chain by number of locations, easily beating McDonald’s, which has roughly 44,000 stores. While the chain has the bulk of its stores in China, it has recently been focusing on international expansion, and Australia is clearly in its sights. 

The name Mixue translates from Mandarin as ‘Mi’ (‘honey/sweet’) and ‘xue’ (snow), reflecting the sweet and icy nature of the Mixue menu. This includes soft-serve cones, flavoured teas and bubble teas, a ‘Mi-Shake’ (flavoured tea blended with soft serve), soft-serve sundaes, coffee blended with soft serve, and a range of milk teas. Prices are low – nothing appears to cost more than $6, and a signature ‘King’ soft-serve cone will only set you back $2 – which is no doubt part of the chain’s universal appeal. 

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Credit: @Mixue

How is Mixue so cheap?

If you’re wondering how Mixue can afford to sell $2 ice cream in Australia during a cost-of-living crisis, it all comes down to massive scale and supply chain efficiency:

• In-house production: Mixue produces the majority of its own ingredients in bulk at large Mixue factories, keeping raw material costs low.
• Streamlined logistics: the company controls its own supply chain and distribution network, minimising external costs.
• A low-cost franchise model: this encourages more franchises, and the more stores there are, the greater the volume of production, which also helps to keep costs low. 
• Standardised equipment: every Mixue franchise uses the exact same machinery supplied by the company, allowing for lower-cost bulk purchasing while making maintenance highly cost efficient.
• Volume over quality: by targeting a mass market, Mixue can focus on attracting huge numbers of customers every day – especially students and young people – which still brings in plenty of money, no matter how low the prices are. You just have to wonder what they’re paying their staff…

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Credit: Dean Martin

Where is Mixue in Australia?

Australian Mixue locations in NSW include the Sydney CBD (Haymarket, World Square and Circular Quay), Chatswood, Cabramatta, Hustville, Hornsby and Kotara, Newcastle. In Queensland, you’ll find stores in South Brisbane, Mt Gravatt and Carindale. In Victoria, you’ll find several stores in the Melbourne CBD. The new Adelaide Mixue store is located at T12 Market Plaza in Chinatown, Adelaide, and officially opens on Friday, March 14. 

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