China’s largest bubble tea chain, Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, opened its first shop in Macau on Friday in the popular tourist spot Senado Square.
In terms of the number of outlets, Mixue ranks first in China and second globally, among fresh beverage makers, boasting 31,568 outlets around the globe as of last week.
The opening of Mixue’s local stop follows the launch of its Hong Kong branch at the end of last year. Known for its low prices on the Chinese mainland, the brand’s expansion into Hong Kong attracted widespread attention and garnered long queues of eager customers.
In January 2024, Mixue Group filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong. However, no progress had been made before the prospectus expired early this week.
At Mixue’s Macau store, the prices of ice cream and beverages range from MOP5 to MOP20, mirroring the pricing in their Hong Kong counterpart.
However, there is a significant gap in pricing between stores in the two SARs and in mainland China, with beverages commanding an average price twice as high as similar products on the mainland.
In an interview with local Chinese language news outlet Macau Daily, Sun Lili, the company’s spokesperson, expressed optimism about the Macau market and highlighted the brand’s intention to enhance cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries, leveraging Macau’s positioning as ‘One Centre, One Platform, and One Base’.
Meanwhile, the president of the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute, U U Sang commented that the bureau would continue to support Mixue’s expansion into the Macau market, as the brand holds the potential to ‘generate more employment opportunities for the youth’.
The chairman also expressed the hope that Mixue would establish more shops in the city in the future, thereby attracting visitors to explore local neighbourhoods and drive consumption.
