SHANGHAI: Chinese fresh beverage brands are expanding their businesses overseas, gradually integrating into local communities and winning the hearts of consumers through high quality products and services.
On Jan 2, Mixue Group, a beverage maker based in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, with over 36,000 stores at home and abroad, applied for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong.
The IPO application is being viewed as a step forward in the company’s globalisation strategy, as it accelerates efforts to enhance consumer awareness and build a brand that is renowned globally.
As a major Chinese new-style tea beverage brand that is going international, Mixue has taken an active part in the nation’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Mixue has been ramping up its expansion programme in various overseas markets since its first store opened in Vietnam six years ago.
Data from the company showed that as of Sept 30 last year, Mixue had established around 4,000 outlets in 11 countries and regions beyond China.
According to China Insights Consultancy (CIC), in terms of the number of overseas stores by that time, Mixue ranked first among all new-style tea drink brands in South-East Asia.
“In 2012, we became the first in China’s freshly made beverage industry to establish centralised factories,” the IPO prospectus of Mixue showed.
“We operate the largest and most comprehensive end-to-end supply chain in the industry, according to CIC.”
“At present, it has built a complete industrial system that integrates agricultural technology support, centralised procurement from production areas, product research and development, central factory production, self-built logistics, store operation management and customer service.
“The end-to-end supply chain is complete,” CIC said in its report.
Mixue owns five major production bases in Henan, Hainan and Anhui provinces, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, and Chongqing, taking up a total area of 670,000 square metres to generate an annual output of 1.43 million tonnes.
To further increase operational efficiency, Mixue has established a self-operated warehouse system that consists of 26 warehouses nationwide and takes up over 300,000 square metres.
To support its overseas business, Mixue has built localised warehouse systems. As of Sept 30, it had built 11 self-operated warehouses in four South-East Asian countries with a total area of 66,000 square metres.
Following Chinese technology enterprises that have gained in popularity among consumers in South-East Asia, new-style beverage brands such as Mixue, Chagee and Luckin Coffee are also quickly expanding businesses there, said Lianhe Zaobao, a Chinese-language newspaper in Singapore.
Spicy hot pot, a traditional cuisine from Sichuan province, is also turning into a new favourite for people overseas, the paper said in a report.
On Jan 4, Naixue opened its first direct store in Bangkok. The store, which takes up two floors, is located in Emsphere, a high-end shopping mall in the Thai capital.
Meanwhile, a Heytea outlet in the Soho area of London has also been well-received by consumers. — China Daily/ANN
