This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on April 24, 2022.
On April 21, Mixue Bingcheng formally invested in fried-chicken brand Jizhuangxiang Fried Chicken, taking a 30% stake. It was another external investment after its stake in Hui Tea.
On the day of the business-registration change, Jizhuangxiang founder Li Yao said a “new journey” was about to begin.
Li Yao’s path into foodservice was not linear. She studied in South Korea, returned to China to open a children’s clothing store, worked as a fashion-magazine editor, and later entered foodservice. After offline apparel stores came under pressure from e-commerce, she decided to invest in a Korean restaurant, drawing on her years in South Korea and familiarity with Korean cuisine.
In the first half of 2013, the predecessor of Jizhuangxiang launched under the name “Wosaiyo,” a transliteration of the Korean phrase for “welcome.” The store’s location was poor, and revenue could not cover staff wages. Li Yao contacted friends in South Korea to run a daigou purchasing business, using the proceeds to pay employees on time. That situation lasted nearly a year.
A year later, the Korean drama My Love from the Star became popular in China, and with it the pairing of fried chicken and beer. Because Wosaiyo had kept its focus on authentic Korean food, it became a popular restaurant after a quiet first year.
In 2015, Li Yao narrowed the brand from general Korean food to Korean-style fried chicken. Store design shifted toward an industrial container-style look, leading to the name “Jizhuangxiang,” a play on “chicken” and “container.” Wosaiyo was officially renamed Jizhuangxiang.
According to Narrow Door’s CanYan data cited in the article, Jizhuangxiang had six stores. A check of Dianping at the time suggested that, among three Zhengzhou locations, two were still open.
Mixue Bingcheng’s portfolio already included its core milk-tea chain, the fast-expanding coffee brand Lucky Cup, and the ice-cream brand Jilato. Its external investment in Hui Tea was framed as a move to address the southern China market.
The Jizhuangxiang investment looked like a move into a new category and a possible attempt to cultivate another large-scale chain opportunity.
At the time, Mixue’s core milk-tea brand was still expanding in China and overseas, but the article argued that domestic store-opening headroom was approaching a ceiling. Strengthening supply chain capability and entering new categories were presented as routes for continued growth.
The article also noted earlier market chatter around convenience-store brand Fulujia and a beer-focused chain associated with Mixue’s founder family, while adding that Fulujia later distanced itself from Mixue Bingcheng.
Among China’s large “ten-thousand-store” chain examples cited in the article, three outside Mixue were Wallace, Zhengxin Chicken Steak, and Juewei Duck Neck. Wallace and Zhengxin are both chicken-related concepts, suggesting that fried chicken and chicken snacks have demonstrated scaling potential beyond beverage chains.
The article argued that fried chicken has structural advantages as a chain category:
The competitive field was fragmented beyond leading brands. Zhengxin Chicken Steak said on its official website in June 2020 that it had 22,000 stores. Another fried-chicken chain, Jiaolege Zhaji, had more than 4,700 stores and had been expanding overseas since 2019, with locations across 14 countries or regions including Japan, Singapore, Canada, the Philippines, and Australia. The article said overseas revenue accounted for about 10% of Jiaolege Zhaji’s revenue.
Meituan Waimai data cited in the article showed fried snacks had a 37.7% compound annual growth rate from 2019 to 2021. In 2021, fried snacks became the largest snack category by order volume, with more than 650 million orders.
Within fried snacks, chicken steak ranked first in Meituan Waimai fried-item sales in 2021, with more than 96 million portions sold. The article linked that demand to the rise of large chains such as Zhengxin Chicken Steak.
Jizhuangxiang’s core product was sauced fried chicken that could be eaten cold. The article raised the question of whether Mixue’s investment would lead to changes in product strategy.
It also noted that after the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, Jizhuangxiang shifted its development strategy from offline stores toward online growth. Whether it would use Mixue’s franchise system to expand through franchising was left as an open question.
Mixue had precedent in coffee. Lucky Cup was previously operated as a boutique coffee brand under Zhao Xin, with Mixue as investor. In 2019, after operating difficulties, Mixue acquired the brand.
Lucky Cup then followed Mixue’s lower-tier-market strategy, betting that coffee consumption would grow in China. Its store count exceeded 400 in October 2021 and surpassed 500 in early 2022.
Data cited in the article said 20% of Lucky Cup stores had average daily revenue above RMB4,000, 30% were at RMB2,000-3,000, and 30% were at RMB1,000-2,000. Average ticket was RMB11.5 per order, average cup price was RMB9.5, and most stores sold 200-300 cups per day.
Lucky Cup’s store-count target for that year was 2,000. The article described that guidance as steep; achieving it by year-end would mean a sharp acceleration.
For fried chicken, the challenge was different from coffee. The category already had many operators in lower-tier markets that had educated consumers, built brands, and opened large store networks. The article concluded that Mixue still had significant work to do in defining the core competitiveness of a new fried-chicken brand.
Note: investment percentages, store counts, operating metrics, and forward store targets are historical figures from the 2022 source article.