Mixue Closes Weaker Stores in Vietnam and Indonesia as Profit Rises 44 Percent

Fewer overseas outlets, stronger group earnings

Mixue reported net profit of CNY 2.72 billion for the first half of 2025, up 44 percent from a year earlier, even as the Chinese beverage company closed underperforming stores in Vietnam and Indonesia for the first time. Revenue rose 39 percent to CNY 14.87 billion, showing that strong growth across the business continued alongside adjustments in its two largest overseas markets.

At the end of June 2025, the company had 4,733 stores outside China, 162 fewer than at the end of 2024. Some outlets in Vietnam and Indonesia were closed, while others were relocated. Mixue described the changes as an effort to improve efficiency and strengthen its store network, rather than a withdrawal from either country.

Mixue is known for inexpensive milk tea, fruit drinks and ice cream. Its business depends on selling large quantities at low prices, supported by a tightly managed supply chain and a network operated mainly by franchisees. Those are independent business owners who run shops under the company's brand and buy its approved supplies.

Vietnam and Indonesia remain central to that international network. Industry figures from September 2024 put Mixue's footprint at about 1,304 stores in Vietnam and 2,667 in Indonesia. The closures show the company adjusting a network that expanded quickly, with greater attention to whether individual locations attract enough customers.

For customers, a cheap drink can be an easy daily purchase. For a shop owner, the same low price means that enough people must walk through the door to cover rent, wages, utilities and other expenses. Mixue's latest changes address that pressure at weaker locations while the parent company continues to grow.

How the overseas adjustment fits a much larger expansion

Mixue's international store count fell during a period of rapid global growth. Research tracking placed the chain at 45,302 outlets in September 2024. By the middle of 2025, the group reported more than 53,000 locations worldwide when counting all its brands.

Earlier company disclosures put its Chinese network at around 48,300 stores. China remains the main engine of expansion, including cities and towns below the largest urban centres, where rents are lower and demand for affordable drinks is steady.

The overseas reduction of 162 stores represents about 3.3 percent of the 4,895 outlets implied by the end of 2024 total. That gives a sense of the adjustment's size: a smaller international network, alongside continued growth across the group.

Mixue's recent development stretches across several years and markets:

• 2018: Mixue opened its first overseas store in Hanoi, making Vietnam its first market outside China.
• Late 2023: Groups of Vietnamese franchisees gathered in Hanoi to protest price cuts and raise concerns about competition between nearby stores.
• September 2024: Research placed Mixue at 45,302 outlets, including about 1,304 in Vietnam and 2,667 in Indonesia.
• Late 2024: Mixue began bringing overseas staff to China for training.
• End of June 2025: The overseas network stood at 4,733 stores, down 162 from the end of 2024, while the group's worldwide footprint exceeded 53,000 locations.
• July 2025: Lucky Cup, the group's coffee brand, had more than 7,000 signed stores, with a target of 10,000 for the year.

Vietnam and Indonesia therefore remain large markets within an expanding business. The change is in how Mixue manages locations within those markets, with weak sites being closed or replaced as the company seeks better sales and healthier returns for shop owners.

Why some locations no longer worked

Mixue executives described the closures and relocations as decisions based on performance. Stores with weak customer traffic or heavy overlap with nearby Mixue outlets were the main targets. The company wants to reduce competition within its own network, raise average sales per store and improve franchisee returns in each local trading area.

Rapid expansion can create clusters of shops serving the same customers. In dense urban streets, two nearby Mixue outlets may compete for the same students, workers and other buyers looking for an inexpensive drink. This is often called cannibalization: one store takes business from another outlet of the same brand.

Rising rents, higher wages and changing delivery platform fees can put further pressure on locations with low sales. A shop still has to pay many of these costs even when few customers arrive. With only a small margin on each cup, a quiet day can quickly affect the owner's earnings.

Some sites also have poor visibility or limited seating. Those details matter in Vietnam, where drinking milk tea can be a social activity as well as a quick purchase to take away. A location that is hard to spot or less suitable for meeting friends may struggle to attract repeat customers.

Mixue's response is to move resources toward stronger streets and neighbourhoods. Company leaders describe a rotation from weak sites to better ones, including locations with greater visibility or more students and office workers nearby. Convenience, predictable waiting times and a presence near schools, transport hubs and residential areas matter when customers buy frequently but spend little each time.

The overseas store total captures the net reduction across the network. Mixue did not give an exact number of closures and relocations for each of Vietnam and Indonesia, leaving the country breakdown unclear.

Why parent company profits and shop earnings can move differently

Mixue's franchise model helps explain how group profits can rise while some outlets struggle. Franchisees pay for equipment and purchase approved ingredients and packaging. The parent company earns a substantial share of its revenue from supplying that network, helping it maintain consistent products and low menu prices.

Individual franchisees face a different calculation. Their earnings depend on how much remains after paying for supplies, staffing, rent, utilities and other operating expenses. Fast service and high customer traffic are essential because the profit on each drink is slim.

Vietnamese franchisees brought those tensions into public view in late 2023. Groups gathered in Hanoi after Mixue lowered retail prices by roughly 25 percent to gain market share while cutting raw material prices by about 8 to 10 percent.

Several franchisees argued that the smaller reduction in ingredient costs left a gap they could not easily absorb. They said losses could reach 15 to 17 percent once rent, labour and utilities were included. Their complaints also covered store density and weak protection against direct competition from nearby Mixue locations.

The dispute shows why lower prices can have different effects across the business. Cheaper drinks can attract more customers, but the shop owner needs enough extra sales to make up for receiving less money per cup. Rent and other fixed expenses continue regardless of the price on the menu.

Those complaints did not stop Mixue's expansion. They did, however, expose how sensitive shop earnings are to pricing and location decisions. Closing weak outlets and relocating others is intended to ease internal competition and improve the earnings profile of the Vietnamese network. It also signals that the company is willing to redraw its store map in favour of healthier locations.

What stronger locations have delivered

Cai Weimiao, Mixue's executive director and head of the frontend supply chain, described the sales gains achieved when some outlets were moved to different locations.

Some stores were replaced with new ones in different locations, which increased daily sales by more than 50%.

The company's location strategy follows the demands of its pricing model. A store selling inexpensive drinks needs frequent purchases and a steady flow of customers. Moving to a more visible street or closer to students and office workers can increase sales without requiring higher menu prices.

Mixue is extending closer monitoring of shop performance to its overseas markets while continuing to expand in China. The aim is to combine network growth with better decisions about where individual stores can operate successfully.

For franchisees, stronger locations can make the difference between spreading fixed expenses across many sales and carrying those same expenses with too little revenue. The reported gains from some relocations explain why moving a store can be part of expansion management, even when the total outlet count falls.

Training and production support the changes

Mixue has been bringing foreign staff to China for training since late 2024, aiming to improve service and make operations more consistent across its international network. It also announced plans to open a global business support centre in 2025.

A dedicated centre can bring together procurement, store checks, marketing plans and digital tools. For franchisees in markets growing quickly, these functions help translate the company's operating standards into daily decisions about supplies, staffing, service and promotions.

A new production hub in Hainan has also begun serving export demand in Southeast Asia. The hub improves delivery times and lowers logistics costs for supplies such as syrups and powders, which are part of the company's beverage production system.

During the first half of 2025, falling sugar and dairy prices supported Mixue's margins. Centralized purchasing also gave the company an advantage when negotiating costs. Buying for a large network gives the parent company greater purchasing scale than an individual shop could achieve.

Mixue maintained a gross margin near the low 30 percent range in that period despite fluctuations in input costs. Gross margin is the share of revenue left after the direct cost of goods sold, before other business expenses are paid. The company's supply efficiencies help it keep drink prices low while protecting profitability.

Training, support and production capacity are therefore part of the same effort as store relocation. Better sites bring customers through the door, while reliable supplies and consistent operations help shops serve them efficiently.

Why Vietnam remains central to Mixue

Vietnam's role goes back to the opening of Mixue's first overseas store in Hanoi in 2018. By September 2024, Momentum Works data cited in industry reporting placed its Vietnamese network at about 1,304 outlets, second only to Indonesia's 2,667 among markets outside China.

Mixue's appeal rests heavily on price. Lemonade, milk tea and fruit tea are typically offered at around VND 10,000 to 30,000, targeting students and young workers seeking affordable treats. That price range makes repeated purchases easier and supports the high transaction frequency the business needs.

Vietnam's large cities have a young customer base with a taste for milk tea, fruit tea and soft serve ice cream. Widespread smartphone use also makes promotions and delivery easier to coordinate. Mixue's footprint reaches from premium shopping streets to neighbourhood corridors and provincial towns, where lower rents and steady foot traffic can support its model.

Closures at weak locations are unlikely to change those basic attractions. The chain continues to operate in hundreds of locations nationwide. Training, stronger supply lines and more selective location decisions are intended to create a more balanced network.

Vietnam also shows why growth needs careful management. The same popularity that supports rapid expansion can encourage stores to open close together. Mixue's adjustment seeks to preserve its broad reach while improving the chances that each outlet has enough customers.

A vast drink network and a growing coffee business

Research published in early 2025 showed Mixue's 45,302 stores in September 2024 ahead of McDonald's roughly 43,000 and Starbucks' slightly more than 40,000. By the middle of 2025, Mixue reported more than 53,000 locations across its brands.

Its sales to customers across the store network still trail those of giants such as Starbucks. Mixue's model is built around inexpensive products sold in large quantities, and the company continues to report billions of cups of beverages sold annually across its system.

Investors have also focused on Lucky Cup, Mixue's coffee brand. By July 2025, it had more than 7,000 signed stores and a target of 10,000 for the year. That figure refers to signed stores, while the wider group figures describe its operating footprint.

Lucky Cup concentrates on China's largest cities, where its outlets tend to be profitable and provide quick returns. It benefits from Mixue's ability to buy coffee beans at scale and from drinks such as fruit coffee aimed at younger urban customers.

The coffee brand opened its first overseas outlet in Malaysia, taking that business beyond China. Mixue also opened its first store in Kazakhstan and signalled interest in Brazil. These moves show that international expansion remains part of its strategy even as it trims weaker locations in Southeast Asia.

Where the pressure on the network remains

Franchise relations remain a concern in Vietnam and the wider region. Price cuts can help Mixue gain market share, but shop owners can face tighter margins when the cost of supplies, rent and wages does not fall alongside menu prices. Clearer planning of trading areas and stronger support for marketing, staffing and delivery platforms can help reduce conflict between nearby outlets.

Food safety enforcement and possible future sugar taxes can affect pricing and the mix of products sold. In markets where most people are Muslim, halal certification and compliance are essential to serving customers in line with their dietary requirements.

Brand perception also matters. Chinese consumer brands have faced periodic scepticism in parts of Southeast Asia, and failures involving product quality or labour practices could prompt a backlash and hurt sales.

Currency movements, competition from local businesses and other Chinese entrants, and the fixed costs of logistics hubs and training programmes add further pressures. Mixue's low prices rely on keeping costs under control while maintaining enough sales at each location.

As of November 22, 2025, the company's reported direction combined three priorities: continued expansion, stronger support for franchisees and the removal or relocation of weaker stores. Its first half earnings show growth at the parent company, while the overseas changes put the focus on making more individual outlets economically sustainable.

What to Know

• Mixue closed underperforming stores in Vietnam and Indonesia for the first time and relocated others to improve its network.
• First half 2025 net profit rose 44 percent to CNY 2.72 billion, while revenue increased 39 percent to CNY 14.87 billion.
• The overseas network had 4,733 stores at the end of June 2025, down 162 from the end of 2024.
• Vietnam and Indonesia remain its largest overseas markets, with about 1,304 and 2,667 stores respectively in September 2024.
• Cai Weimiao said some replacement locations increased daily sales by more than 50 percent.
• Vietnamese franchisees protested price cuts and store density in late 2023, highlighting pressure on shop earnings.
• Training in China, a planned global support centre and production in Hainan support overseas operations.
• Lucky Cup had more than 7,000 signed stores by July 2025 and opened its first overseas outlet in Malaysia.
• Mixue continues to pursue international growth, including a first store in Kazakhstan and interest in Brazil.