Mixue Icecream < 720p >

But Zhang Hongchao, now a billionaire several times over, has a quiet answer. In a rare 2023 interview, he said: “I don’t want to be the Apple of ice cream. I want to be the chopsticks of ice cream — everywhere, useful, and nobody thinks about it twice.”

In a world where a scoop of premium gelato can cost a day’s wage in some countries, Mixue offers the same dopamine hit for pocket change. It’s the IKEA effect applied to dessert: you know it’s not the best, but you feel smart buying it. Mixue now faces the inevitable backlash of hypergrowth. Labor shortages in China, rising dairy costs, and competitors cloning its model (enter “Honey Snow” and “Sweet Snow” knockoffs). Western brands are slashing prices. And some customers are asking: Where does the lemon come from? mixue icecream

Here’s a feature-style look at — the Chinese dessert chain that took over the world with dollar menus and dancing snowmen. The Snow Monster That Conquered the World: Inside Mixue’s Sweet, Sticky Empire On a sweltering Bangkok street, next to a luxury mall and a gold shop, a line snakes 20 people deep. They’re not waiting for Michelin-starred Thai food. They’re waiting for a $1 soft-serve cone from a Chinese brand called Mixue. But Zhang Hongchao, now a billionaire several times

What Zhang understood — before Harvard MBAs wrote case studies about it — is that . It’s a daily ritual for people who work hard. His customers weren’t Instagram foodies. They were students, taxi drivers, factory workers, and grandmas taking grandkids for a walk. It’s the IKEA effect applied to dessert: you

By 2006, he pivoted to soft serve. By 2020, Mixue had more outlets in China than McDonald’s and KFC combined . Today, it operates over across 11 countries, from Vietnam to Australia to the Philippines.