In a move that signals a broader shift in China’s beverage battleground, Mixue (蜜雪冰城) has acquired a 53% stake in draft-beer chain Fulu Jia (also known as Xianpi Fulu Jia, 鲜啤福鹿家) for roughly RMB 297 million (US $41.7 million). Far from a plain old aquisition, the Mixue beer deal is a calculated first plunge into the low-alcohol arena.
Founded in 2021, Fulu Jia already boasts about 1,200 outlets across 28 provinces and posted a profit in 2024 of around RMB 1.07 million (US $150,000). Its signature cups are priced in the RMB 5.9–14.9 (US $0.83-2.09) range – a clear nod to Mixue’s mass-market DNA.
For Mixue, best known for its value-priced ice-cream, teas and coffees, the beer deal offers immediate operational and site-synergy: the same store network, supply-chain logistics, digital customer base and evening foot-traffic that tea and coffee have already locked in. In short: lemonade by day, fresh-draft beer by night. From that vantage, Mixue says this is an important step to ‘seize the development opportunities in the on-tap fresh beer industry.’
The timing of the Mixue beer deal is telling. As beverage brands wrestle with saturation in daytime tea and coffee, the ‘fun not drunk’ logic of low-alcohol drinks fits neatly with Gen Z’s social habits: inexpensive, photogenic, and built for evening and weekend occasions rather than serious bar-based consumption. Analysts cite the broader ‘Little Sweet Water’ (小甜水) trend: beer-and-tea hybrids that are dessert-playful rather than beer-heavy as precedent to the trend.
Rivals aren’t sitting still either. Tea chains such as Chabaidao, Chayanyuese and Lelecha are already experimenting with tea-plus-alcohol formats, upping the ante from viral one-offs to repeatable low-alcohol outlets. The logic: extend the brand into nighttime, diversify the consumer day, and build the basket beyond single cups of milk tea. In short: Mixue’s bet is that the next growth curve won’t come by charging more. It will come by staying cheap, staying social, and visible after dark.
