This Chain Is Bigger Than McDonald's. No One Knows It

Earlier this week in Hong Kong, the stock price for a beverage chain little known in the US spiked, rising 43% after its $444 million intro to the market, per the AP. Now, Mixue has reportedly unseated none other than McDonald's and Starbucks, to boast the most number of stores in the fast-food industry, reports the CBC.

• The numbers: Mixue is a purveyor of bubble tea and other drinks that now claims at least 45,000 stores in China and nearly a dozen other countries, including Australia, Singapore, and Thailand, as of last September. To contrast, Mickey D's has about 43,000 locations worldwide in 100 or so nations, while Starbucks has about 40,000. The vast majority of Mixue's stores are run by franchisees. "It's the largest brand that nobody's ever heard of," says restaurant industry analyst Robert Carter of StratonHunter. "They've just exploded."

• Origins: Mixue was founded in 1997 by 21-year-old Zhang Hongchao, who borrowed about $400 from his grandma so he could set up a small shaved-ice shop in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, per Forbes Australia. That store went under, but he found success with his second launch, a store called Mixue Bingcheng, which translates to "sweet snow palace." Zhang, now 47, and younger brother Hongfu (currently Mixue's CEO) are now billionaires, per Forbes' estimates.
• Consumer love: With a variety of selections, including (obviously) bubble tea, fruit drinks, coffee beverages, and ice cream; a fun snowman mascot called Snow King; and prices kept at $1 or less for most of its offerings, patrons can't stay away. "They've got a really interesting pricing strategy. They keep things very low, but their product quality is high," Carter tells the CBC. "That's also allowed them to grow really dramatically and get a lot of younger consumers from that price point."
• Supply chain link: Interestingly, it's not the brand's bubble teas that are keeping it in business. "Though many see the brand as a traditional beverage retailer, it operates more like a raw-material supplier, selling food materials, packaging, and equipment to thousands of franchisees," notes the CBC. "The bulk of its revenue comes from the sale of merchandise and equipment to franchised stores, which are required to buy these items from Mixue."
• US showing? Mixue could soon find its way to North America, with Carter saying that there's just too much opportunity in this part of the world to pass over. "Canada and the US alone is a trillion dollar restaurant segment," he notes. However, Mixue said in its recent IPO filing that while it means to go global, no plans to come to the US specifically were mentioned, per the Wall Street Journal.

(More Mixue stories.)