Coffee, Cakes, And Beer All On The Menu? Milk Tea Listed Companies Pursue Diversification
Mixue Bingcheng (02097.HK) has recently accelerated its strategic moves. Selected pilot outlets will install freshly ground coffee machines to retail brewed coffee, while certain flagship stores have added cake offerings such as tiramisu and chocolate mousse. The company also announced plans to develop the “Mixue Bingcheng Snow King City Theme Park” in Zhengzhou, and its subsidiary Fulu Home (Zhengzhou) Enterprise Management Co., Ltd. has established a wholly owned unit, Sichuan Fresh Beer Fulu Home Brewery Co., Ltd., with a business scope that includes alcohol production and liquor sales.
Other listed ready‑to‑order tea brands, including Guming (01364.HK), Aunt Shanghai (02589.HK), Cha Baidao (02555.HK) and Bawang Chaji (CHA.O), are likewise expanding beyond milk tea and fruit tea into adjacent categories. Their initiatives span coffee, snacks, baked goods and branded merchandise such as fridge magnets and teaware. Industry executives and analysts note that after years of rapid footprint expansion, the new‑tea sector is shifting from scale‑driven growth to refined operations, with a shared emphasis on raising per‑store productivity and identifying secondary growth drivers.
Within these diversification efforts, coffee has emerged as a strategically contested category. Except for Bawang Chaji, the other five listed tea chains have introduced coffee offerings, frequently paired with bakery items. Mixue Bingcheng and Aunt Shanghai have pursued sub‑brand strategies—Mixue’s Lucky Coffee operates standalone outlets, while Hu Coffee is typically sold inside Aunt Shanghai stores. Guming and Nayuki sell coffee under their primary brands, and Cha Baidao, after closing its independent coffee concept Kahui, continues to offer freshly ground coffee within its main brand.
For many operators, adding coffee entails limited incremental investment because existing beverage preparation infrastructure—service counters, ice machines and point‑of‑sale systems—is already in place; the primary additions are espresso machines and coffee bean supplies. A senior executive at a listed milk‑tea company explained that coffee and milk tea have complementary peak periods: coffee demand concentrates on weekday mornings, whereas milk tea peaks in afternoons and on weekends. Offering both categories enables brands to capture demand across different dayparts and present a full‑day beverage solution. The executive added that building a multi‑brand portfolio can strengthen resilience against industry cycles compared with a single‑brand model.
Optimizing the single‑store economics has become a central objective as fixed costs such as rent and labor remain high. Market participants observe that introducing coffee, light meals or breakfast items can enhance per‑store revenue and extend operating hours. A marketing executive at a listed new‑tea company noted that the underlying rationale for adding coffee, snacks and breakfast is to boost single‑store sales and refine the store model. A food‑industry analyst summarized that with growth slowing and competition intensifying, the era of rapid territory expansion is waning; sustaining growth now requires increasing per‑store revenue through category expansion and operational optimization rather than relying solely on scale.
Overall, the sector’s diversification is well underway: deeper coffee investments, multi‑category synergies and the construction of brand matrices are emerging as dominant trends. Nonetheless, not all experiments succeed. Cha Baidao launched the independent coffee brand Kahui in Chengdu in January 2024, offering coffee, bagels and burgers, but announced its closure in December 2025. This outcome underscores that diversification entails significant challenges—accurate brand positioning, operational efficiency and market acceptance are decisive. As one industry practitioner observed, continuous experimentation and product renewal are necessary to discover offerings that resonate with consumers.
