How $10B Mixue Is Destroying McDonald's & Starbucks

The world’s largest food and beverage chain by store count isn’t American. It’s Chinese.

You’ve heard of McDonald’s, Starbucks, and KFC. But the world’s largest food and beverage chain by store count isn’t American. It’s Chinese.

In 1997, a young man in central China borrowed money from his grandmother and opened a tiny shaved ice stall. Today, that business is called Mixue. And it runs over 45,000 stores across Asia, more than any Western food chain.

The secret might just like in ice cream cones for 30 cents, fruit teas for under a dollar, and a backend so efficient, it delivers ingredients to thousands of stores daily while keeping prices absurdly low.

This episode breaks down what happens when the most powerful food chain isn’t built on aspiration but on access.

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