Why Is Mixue Adding Coffee Machines to Its Stores?

Mixue Bingcheng, the tea chain known for lemonade and milk tea, is testing freshly ground coffee. Some new franchise stores have received fully automatic coffee machines from the brand, but no start date has been set. The company calls the ground coffee business preliminary planning and pilot testing, with a small trial running in selected Zhengzhou stores.

Until now Mixue used black coffee brewed from coffee powder as its Americano and latte base. Rival ground coffee brand Lucky Cup, also owned by Mixue, has more than 10,000 stores. Reports say the pilot tests new coffee products and upgraded beans and milk, with machine cost around 33,000 yuan per store and rollout tied to results.

Recently, multiple media outlets have reported that some franchisees of Mixue Bingcheng have revealed that their stores may soon introduce coffee machines, signaling that this tea beverage brand, known for its lemonade and milk tea, could officially enter the freshly ground coffee sector. Currently, some new stores have received fully automatic coffee machines provided by the brand, though the exact timing for their use has not yet been determined. It is worth noting that Mixue Bingcheng already owns Lucky Cup, a brand focused on freshly ground coffee, which has surpassed 10,000 stores. If the main brand simultaneously launches similar products, the market positioning of both may face adjustments. This article will review the latest progress of the freshly ground coffee business pilot, the direction of product upgrades, and the various speculations from the outside.

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Recently, multiple media outlets including Red Star Capital Bureau and Jiemian News reported that several Mixue Bingcheng franchisees have disclosed that Mixue Bingcheng stores may soon stock coffee machines and will launch freshly ground coffee in the near future.

It is understood that in addition to its signature lemonade, milk tea, and other tea beverages, Mixue Bingcheng's menu also includes products such as Americano and latte. However, compared with its subsidiary Lucky Cup, which focuses on freshly ground coffee, Mixue Bingcheng, lacking coffee equipment, has always used black coffee brewed from coffee powder as the beverage base, thus falling slightly short in taste and quality.

Now, several Mixue Bingcheng franchisees have told media reporters that some new stores have already received coffee machines provided by the brand, though no notice has been given on when to use them. Some also said that Mixue Bingcheng has not forced all stores to purchase the 33,000-yuan fully automatic coffee machines, noting that "new stores have them, but old stores do not yet."

A person close to Mixue Bingcheng stated that the freshly ground coffee business is currently in the preliminary planning and pilot stage; initially, a small number of stores in Zhengzhou may be selected for testing, and subsequent promotion will be based on the pilot results. The source said that Mixue Bingcheng will also simultaneously pilot product upgrades, including not only fully automatic coffee machines but also the launch of new coffee products and the upgrading of core ingredients such as coffee beans and milk, while continuing the brand's affordable pricing strategy.

At present, some Mixue Bingcheng merchants' back-end systems have already listed "fully automatic coffee machines," and new stores are required to increase electrical capacity and reserve space for coffee equipment. However, the timing for the coffee machines to go online and the new products to be launched has not yet been fully finalized.

In recent years, tea beverage brands such as Nayuki, Guming, and Shanghai Auntie have successively joined the freshly ground coffee sector, adding coffee drinks to their offline stores for consumers to choose from. Therefore, most people are actually not too surprised that Mixue Bingcheng may expand into the freshly ground coffee business.

However, it is worth noting that Mixue Bingcheng launched its own coffee chain brand Lucky Cup as early as 2017, and by November 2025, Lucky Cup officially announced that its store count had surpassed 10,000. So from the outside perspective, once "Snow King" launches freshly ground coffee, it will conflict with Lucky Cup's main products, and the brand's market positioning will become awkward.

Some netizens pointed out that data from Zhanmen Canyan as of February 11 this year shows that Lucky Cup has 8,409 operating stores, which is somewhat short of the announced 10,000-store scale. This led to speculation that Mixue Bingcheng might adjust its subsidiary Lucky Cup, similar to how Tea Baidao closed its coffee sub-brand "Coffee Ash" stores before testing coffee sales in its stores, so as not to conflict with the main brand's business strategy.

In response, a reporter consulted the Mixue Bingcheng franchise hotline as a prospective franchisee, and the staff said that the specific equipment details are not currently visible and can only be seen after the location review is passed and the contract is signed when the equipment machines are brought in. Additionally, Mixue Bingcheng responded to rumors that stores will launch freshly ground coffee, stating that there is currently no official information available for disclosure.

Image source: Internet

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