Mixue spent nearly 300 million yuan to acquire "Fulujia", targeting freshly brewed draft beer.

The Snow King has pulled off another major move.

iBrandi learned that on October 1st, Mixue Bingcheng issued an announcement, officially declaring that it has acquired a 53% equity stake in Xianpi Fuluji through capital increase and equity transfer. According to the announcement, the total consideration for this transaction is approximately RMB 297 million.

This also means that following ice cream, milk tea, freshly made fruit tea, and coffee, Mixue Bingcheng has extended its reach to the beer industry, specifically the fresh beer segment.

The announcement states that this investment is regarded by the Mixue Group as an important measure to seize the development opportunities in the on-tap fresh beer industry and build a more influential global food and beverage brand.

According to public data, the market size of China's fresh beer market reached RMB 58.67 billion in 2024 (the statistical scope includes on-tap fresh beer and bottled fresh beer), a year-on-year increase of 7.3%.

If we focus on the craft fresh beer segment, the market size is expected to exceed RMB 80 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of over 30%. Its share of the overall beer market will increase from less than 3% in 2020 to 6.3%.

For the Snow King, acquiring Fuluji, which already has over 1,000 stores, is an opportunity to avoid starting from scratch in a new market. With the support of the Snow King, Fuluji, which also offers high-quality products at affordable prices, may accelerate its progress from the "myth of a thousand stores" to the "goal of ten thousand stores" with the resource support of Mixue Bingcheng.

Mixue Bingcheng: Avoiding Starting from Scratch and Seizing the Emerging Market

Specifically, the Mixue Group completed this investment in Xianpi Fuluji through two agreements.

First, the Mixue Group subscribed for the newly increased registered capital of Xianpi Fuluji with a capital increase of RMB 285.6 million, accounting for 51% of the expanded registered capital. Second, it acquired a 2% equity stake from an independent third-party shareholder for a consideration of RMB 11.2 million. After the completion of the transaction, the Mixue Group's shareholding ratio will reach 53%, and Xianpi Fuluji will become its non-wholly-owned subsidiary, and its financial performance will be consolidated into the Mixue Group's financial statements.

This transaction was determined through fair negotiation among all parties based on the market value assessment range of all equity of Xianpi Fuluji as of August 31, 2025, which is between RMB 244.7 million and RMB 276.6 million.

Mixue Bingcheng's decision to acquire Xianpi Fuluji is still a strategic choice to seek a second growth curve through supply chain synergy and other means in the face of intensified competition in the tea beverage market.

First, looking at the fresh beer segment. As mentioned above, during the transformation of the beer industry, the craft fresh beer segment is becoming a new growth market: the market size is expected to exceed RMB 80 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of over 30%.

The "In-depth Research on the Current Situation of China's Craft Beer Industry and Forecast of Future Investments (2025 - 2032)" also points out that although China's beer production has declined, the craft beer segment has bucked the trend.

For Mixue Bingcheng, it now needs to find a "newer" market than tea beverages and coffee.

In 2024, Mixue Bingcheng's revenue was RMB 24.83 billion (a year-on-year increase of 22.3%), and its net profit was RMB 4.45 billion (a year-on-year increase of 39.8%). Although it maintained growth, the overall growth rate of the tea beverage industry has dropped from over 20% in the past to around 12%. Leading brands such as Guming and Luckin are seizing the market through low-price strategies and category expansion, so Mixue needs to break through its dependence on a single tea beverage category.

In other words, for Mixue, it still has unparalleled advantages in tea beverages. However, just like Nongfu Spring's Dongfang Shuye, when it gets closer to the ceiling and the growth rate starts to slow down, everyone needs a new, high-speed growth curve.

Second, from the perspective of expanding the consumer group and consumption scenarios.

Mixue Bingcheng's main target group is young people aged around 18 - 25, while Fuluji, as a craft beer brand, will further cover the group aged around 25 - 40. In particular, it can complement Mixue Bingcheng in the sinking market, such as in catering scenarios like barbecue and hot pot stalls. Mixue Bingcheng can also expand its user group from "students" to scenarios such as "family dinners" and "night economy" through this acquisition.

Selling lemonade and pearl milk tea during the day and switching to on-tap fresh beer at night, the store's operating scenarios and hours have been extended: from being refreshed by milk tea and coffee during the day to having a light drink after work, all at low prices, in an approachable and accessible way...

Third, the alignment and synergy from brand concept to channels.

Fuluji is the first domestic craft fresh beer brand to exceed a thousand stores.

According to public data, as of August 2025, Fuluji has opened approximately 1,200 stores in 28 provinces, offering on-tap fresh beer at a low price of 5.9 - 9.9 yuan per 500 ml. According to Shangpu Consulting, in terms of the number of stores, Xianpi Fuluji has become the brand with the largest number of fresh beer chain stores in China.

On the one hand, this is highly consistent with Mixue Bingcheng's positioning of "high quality and affordable prices". On the other hand, Fuluji also adopts the strategy of "encircling the cities from the countryside", focusing on second - and third - tier cities and county - level markets, and gradually penetrating into first - tier cities such as Beijing and Shenzhen. Its stores are mostly located in areas with concentrated community catering, with an area of about 15 square meters, operating in a "takeaway + light dine - in" mode, with an average daily turnover of up to 3,000 yuan, and some stores exceeding 10,000 yuan during the peak season.

This model meets the needs of consumers in the sinking market for "high cost - performance + convenient consumption" and forms a synergistic effect with Mixue Bingcheng's store network, allowing for the sharing of customer sources and reducing customer acquisition costs.

On - tap fresh beer, as a quality upgrade direction in its early stage of development, has huge market potential. For Mixue Bingcheng, this acquisition can help it quickly enter this emerging market with low barriers and seize the opportunity.

When Mixue enters a market, it still relies on the familiar logic: when others are telling stories about craft beer, it just needs to lower the price.

Fuluji: Also Adopting the Strategies of "High Quality and Affordable Prices" and "Encircling the Cities from the Countryside"

In fact, Fuluji can be regarded as the "Mixue Bingcheng" in the craft beer industry, with the core strategies of "high quality and affordable prices" and "encircling the cities from the countryside".

According to public information, Fuluji was formerly a convenience store brand called "Fuluji" established in 2018, and its first store was opened at Henan University of Economics and Law, the alma mater of Zhang Hongchao, another founder of Mixue Bingcheng.

In 2021, it transformed into an on - tap fresh beer chain, changed its name to "Fuluji" in February 2022, and was renamed "Xianpi Fuluji" in 2025. According to Huace Testing, Xianpi Fuluji is the first domestic brand to obtain the national standard certification for "fresh beer".

In 2023, Fuluji opened national franchising. In April 2024, it just exceeded 100 stores. In 2025, it started to expand rapidly, and exceeded 1,000 stores in June of the same year.

Specifically, when Fuluji just opened franchising in 2023, most of its more than 70 stores were concentrated in its home base - Henan, and a few were distributed in cities such as Songyuan in Jilin, Cangzhou in Hebei, Suzhou in Anhui, Hanzhong in Shaanxi, Tonglu in Zhejiang, Ningxia, Shenyang in Liaoning, and Heze in Shandong.

In 2024 and 2025, during the period of accelerated store expansion, in addition to further opening stores in sinking counties and cities, Fuluji also entered first - and second - tier cities such as Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Wuhan.

In terms of products, Fuluji mainly operates craft fresh beer, with its product line covering multiple categories such as fresh beer, fruit beer, tea beer, and milk beer, priced at around 5.9 - 9.9 yuan. In addition to on - tap fresh beer, Fuluji has also launched ready - to - drink products such as bottled beer.

In particular, different from other pubs that focus on "scenes" and "spaces", Fuluji has a high - frequency new product launch speed behind its "high - volume sales". It is reported that in its investment promotion materials for franchisees, it promises to have "new products every year and explosive products every season".

In fact, for beer, especially for beer companies aiming to provide a light - drinking experience for young people, as Lianchu Securities pointed out, the upgrade of beer products needs to strengthen the differentiation of "niche flavors" and the "beverage - like" trend, and Fuluji's product strategy is in line with this direction.

For Fuluji, after joining the Mixue Group, the Snow King's standardized operation and management system will undoubtedly further assist Fuluji in expanding its store network.

As the Snow King pointed out in the announcement, Fuluji can share Mixue's cold - chain logistics and IP marketing resources. Relying on the Mixue Group's powerful supply chain system, both parties can give full play to their synergistic advantages in procurement, production, logistics, R & D, quality control, etc., and further enhance Fuluji's product strength and cost advantages. Currently, Fuluji has signed a contract with Ershou Meigui as the "Happy Ambassador for a Thousand Stores" to promote joint marketing of the brand IP.

In fact, the synergistic effect of this transaction also points directly to the core pain points of the industry.

The 8.5% compound annual growth rate of fresh beer and the market size prospect of RMB 200 billion in 2030 are very attractive. However, cold - chain losses and supply chain costs have long restricted the industry's expansion. Mixue's mature national logistics network and AI inventory management experience are expected to bring the fresh beer loss rate closer to the low level of its tea beverage business, which is the core confidence for it to empower the target company.

Specifically, Mixue Bingcheng's currently self - built five production bases and the 12 - hour logistics network covering the whole country can directly empower Fuluji. For example, through centralized procurement of raw materials such as malt and hops, Fuluji's production cost is expected to be reduced by 15% - 20%. Relying on Mixue's intelligent cold - chain system, the fresh beer transportation loss rate has been reduced from the industry average of 8% to less than 3%, and the temperature can be controlled at 0 - 8°C throughout the process to maintain freshness.

In the past two years, the Chinese craft beer market has been shifting from niche consumption to mass popularity. With its positioning of "drinking craft beer for less than 10 yuan" and Mixue's supply chain support, Fuluji may replicate Mixue's "low - price dominance" logic in the tea beverage market.

In particular, when Mixue enters any beverage market, its confidence still lies in the familiar logic: when others are telling stories, it just needs to lower the price.

After Xingyunkafei, can Fuluji bring fresh beer to become the Snow King's third growth curve? Let's wait and see.

This article is from the WeChat official account "New Consumption Daily" (ID: ibrandi), author: Bale. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.