Gordon Yang and agencies

China's largest bubble tea and drinks chain Mixue (2097), whose stock price has doubled since its trading debut two weeks ago, has come under fire after a store was accused of using old lemon slices stored at room temperature overnight for its popular drink.

Also, flies and insects were spotted on the lids of their cups at the store in Hubei province, a media group reported.

The store's manager admitted that standard operating procedures had been ignored.

Local regulators have investigated the branch.

Mixue's lemonade is one of its most popular products. The company claims the drink is made from premium fresh lemons, freshly sliced and used immediately, with unused lemons discarded at the end of the day.

Mixue's stock soared by 43 percent when it made its listing debut on March 3. By last Friday, the shares were worth HK$406 apiece, double their offer price.

Mixue has seen its number of stores grow from 10,000 to 45,000 in just four years and it is now the world's biggest food and beverage chain ahead of Starbucks and McDonald's.

Most of Mixue's revenue comes from selling ingredients and equipment to franchisees, nearly all its stores are franchise-owned and over 60 percent of the materials sold to franchisees are self-produced. This enables it to adopt a low-pricing strategy, with drinks priced between 2 yuan (HK$2.15) and 8 yuan in China and overseas.

However, while the franchise model and low-price strategy have fueled its rapid expansion, they have also brought operational challenges, particularly in food safety.

Sixteen franchise stores were flagged for food safety violations in 2024, according to The Beijing Consumer Association. Also, Mixue had received 8,727 complaints on Chinese consumer platform Black Cat as of February 2025, and nearly 70 percent of them involved food safety.

Last June, a video allegedly showing an employee washing their feet in the kitchen sink went viral but Mixue later said the person had burnt his foot and had used cold water as an emergency step, according to reports.

Commenting on the popularity of Chinese brands, Gordon Mathews, a professor of anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the expansion of Chinese F&B brands is part of a broader trend where Chinese goods are no longer seen as merely cheap but as having real value.

Mixue is China’s largest bubble tea and drinks chain. AFP

IPO darling Mixue accused of using stale lemons in bestselling drink