You cannot legally buy a Mixue franchise in the United States today.
As of September 21, 2026, there is no Mixue Franchise Disclosure Document on file in the state franchise databases we searched, and the company's own US-facing account told us directly that the franchise has not launched here.
The "$10,000 Mixue USA franchise" being advertised online is an unregistered offer with no disclosure document behind it.
Mixue is a real and enormous company, and it has opened a handful of US stores, but a store you can walk into is not a franchise you can buy. FranchiseFinePrint takes no money from franchisors or brokers, so here is the honest picture, and how to protect yourself.
Why we can say there is no Mixue franchise to buy yet
There is no registered Mixue franchise in the United States because the one document the law requires does not exist yet. Before anyone can sell you a franchise in this country, federal law says they must first give you a Franchise Disclosure Document. We looked for Mixue's, we could not find it, and the people soliciting American buyers admitted it is not ready.
What is an FDD? A Franchise Disclosure Document, or FDD, is the roughly 200 to 500 page legal disclosure every franchisor must hand a buyer before taking any money or a signature. It lays out the fees, the total cost to open, the lawsuits, the closure counts, and the earnings. It is the single most important thing you read before buying any franchise.
We searched the Minnesota franchise registry, a public database of every FDD filed in that state, for the name Mixue on September 21, 2026. It returned nothing. We searched the Wisconsin franchise registry the same day and got the same result. To prove the search tools were working, we ran a known bubble tea franchise, Kung Fu Tea, through the same Wisconsin database, and it returned more than a dozen filings including a current, registered one. The tools work. Mixue simply is not in them.
We also checked the US Small Business Administration's loan records, the government file we use to measure how franchise buyers repay their loans. There are zero loans tied to Mixue, because on the public record there has been no US Mixue franchise to lend against.
We asked Mixue directly, and they confirmed it
We did not stop at the databases. A verified Instagram account has been inviting Americans to apply for a Mixue franchise, so we messaged it and asked the simplest question there is. Can you send me a link to your FDD?
The reply confirmed what the registries showed. The account said Mixue has not officially launched its franchise applications in the United States, and that the disclosure document is, in its own words, "not yet available." Then it did the thing every buyer should watch for. Instead of a franchise document, it sent a link to a form asking for our contact information, so someone could reach out once the process officially begins.
Read that order carefully, because it is the whole lesson. There is no document, there is no registered franchise, and the first thing the offer wants is your personal information. A real franchise sale gives you the disclosure first and asks for your commitment last. An offer with no document that wants your details up front is collecting leads, not selling you a business you can check.
How much does a Mixue franchise cost in the US?
The honest answer is that no one can tell you the real cost yet, because there is no registered US franchise and no disclosure document that spells it out. A website has advertised a Mixue USA franchise for a $10,000 fee and a 2% royalty, but those numbers carry no weight without an FDD to stand behind them and confirm them.
What is a royalty? A royalty is the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor every month for the life of the agreement, on top of the one-time franchise fee. A 2% royalty means two cents of every dollar you ring up leaves your register before you pay for a single cup or a single hour of labor.
Here is why a low advertised fee should make you more careful, not less. A $10,000 franchise with no FDD is riskier than a $150,000 franchise with a clean, registered one, because with the first you are sending money and information into a document vacuum, and with the second you can read exactly what you are buying. In Mixue's home markets, the company also makes most of its money selling ingredients and equipment to its own franchisees rather than from the royalty. If a US program ever launches, the total cost of being a Mixue owner will live in the required purchases, not the headline fee, and only a real FDD will show you that number.
Price is not the question when the paperwork is missing. Whether the offer is real is the question.
Is Mixue even a franchise you can open in America?
Not yet. Mixue has opened company-run stores in the United States, but it has not opened its franchise to American buyers, and those are two very different things. A retail location the company operates itself is not the same as a franchise it sells to an outside owner.
Mixue opened its first US stores in New York City in December 2025, with shops near Times Square, on Broadway, and in Chinatown, and more reportedly planned. The prices held to the brand's ultra-cheap formula, a soft-serve cone at $1.19 and a large lemonade at $1.99. Seeing Mixue on an American street makes the franchise feel available, and that gap between visible and available is exactly where a questionable offer slips through. The company being here does not mean the franchise is for sale here.
Is the Mixue USA franchise legit or a scam?
We cannot call it a scam, and we will not, because we cannot confirm who is behind the solicitation. What we can tell you is that the offer has none of the protections a real franchise sale is required to have, and that alone is reason enough to keep your money and your information to yourself for now.
Here is what is missing. There is no registered FDD. There is no confirmed connection between the accounts collecting American interest and Mixue Bingcheng, the actual company. And the offer asks for your contact details before handing you a single disclosure. Any of those three would be a caution flag on its own. Together they mean you have no way to verify who you are dealing with or what you would be buying.
The Federal Trade Commission's Franchise Rule is the protection working in your favor here. It requires a franchisor to give you the complete FDD at least 14 days before you sign anything or pay any money, in all 50 states. Anyone asking you to pay a deposit, an application fee, or even just your information as the price of getting in early, before there is a document and before that clock starts, is not operating the way the rule intends. Treat that as your line.
How do I open a Mixue franchise in the US?
Right now, you wait, and you verify. The only honest way to open a Mixue franchise in the United States is to wait until the company files a real FDD and launches an official program, then read that document and run the standard checks before you commit a dollar. There is no legitimate shortcut available today.
While you wait, here is how to check Mixue, or any franchise, for yourself, in about ten minutes and for free.
First, search the state franchise registries. Minnesota's is called CARDS and Wisconsin's is the DFI Franchise Search. Both let you type a brand name and see every FDD on file, with the year and the status. A brand seriously selling franchises across the country usually shows up in one of them. Nothing at all, for a brand that is actively recruiting buyers, is your signal to stop.
Second, check the SBA loan record, the 7(a) FOIA file on the SBA's open data site, which lists franchise loans by brand and shows how they performed.
Third, demand the FDD in writing from whoever is selling, note the date you receive it, and give yourself the full 14 days the law requires. A real franchisor hands it over without friction. Anyone who stalls, or asks for money or your information first, has told you what you need to know.
Who Mixue actually is
Mixue is the largest food and beverage chain in the world by number of stores, and most Americans have never heard of it. It started in 1997 as a single shaved-ice stand in Zhengzhou, China, run by a college student who later brought in his younger brother. Forbes reported the two of them became billionaires selling drinks and cones for about a dollar. Its cartoon mascot, the Snow King, and a jingle that went viral across Asia turned it into something closer to a cultural phenomenon than a drink stand.
The business is real and large. Mixue is publicly traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, so its numbers are audited and checkable, unlike the franchise offer. For 2025 it reported revenue of about 33.56 billion Chinese yuan, roughly 4.7 billion US dollars, with net profit near 5.9 billion yuan, about 835 million dollars. By the end of the year it ran 59,823 stores across 14 countries, adding more than 13,000 in a single year. None of that is in doubt. What is in doubt is only the thing being sold in the company's name to American buyers.
A bubble tea franchise you can actually evaluate today
If what draws you to Mixue is the bubble tea business itself, that category has franchises you can actually read before you buy. The clearest example is Kung Fu Tea, which we confirmed has a current, registered FDD in the checks above.
Kung Fu Tea was founded in Queens, New York in 2010, it is one of the largest bubble tea brands in the country, and it has been continuously registered as a franchise for more than a decade. We are not telling you to buy it, and we have not torn it down, so treat this only as a starting point rather than a recommendation. What we are telling you is that with a brand like that, you can request the disclosure document, read the real fees and the real closure numbers, and make an informed decision. That is the entire difference. One offer hands you a document to study. The other hands you a form to fill out.
Frequently asked questions about the Mixue franchise in the US
Does Mixue have a Franchise Disclosure Document?
Not in the United States, as far as the public record shows. We searched the Minnesota and Wisconsin state franchise registries on September 21, 2026 and found no Mixue FDD in either, while a control search for another bubble tea brand returned current filings, confirming the databases work. Without a registered FDD, no one can lawfully sell you a Mixue franchise in this country, because the Federal Trade Commission requires that document to be delivered to you at least 14 days before any sale.
Is Mixue open in the United States?
Yes, as a retailer, not as a franchise. Mixue opened its first US stores in New York City in December 2025, near Times Square, on Broadway, and in Chinatown, with more reportedly planned. These are company-operated stores selling soft-serve and tea at the brand's signature low prices, a cone for $1.19 and a large lemonade for $1.99. Being able to buy a drink at a Mixue does not mean you can buy a Mixue franchise, and the two should not be confused.
Who owns Mixue?
Mixue Bingcheng was founded by Zhang Hongchao in Zhengzhou, China in 1997, and later co-built with his younger brother. The company went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in early 2025 under the ticker 2097, so it is now a publicly traded company with audited financial reports. That public listing is the legitimate place to learn about the real company, as opposed to the third-party sites soliciting franchise interest in its name.
How many Mixue stores are there?
Mixue ran 59,823 stores worldwide at the end of 2025, more locations than McDonald's, Starbucks, or Subway, which makes it the largest food and beverage chain in the world by store count. Most of those stores are in China, with about 4,467 spread across 14 other countries. The company added more than 13,000 stores in 2025 alone, close to 37 new locations every day, almost all of them outside the United States.
What should I do if I want a Mixue franchise?
Wait for the company to file a real FDD and launch an official US program, then read that document before you commit anything. In the meantime, do not send money or personal information to any Mixue franchise offer, since none of them can currently provide the disclosure the law requires. You can follow the real company through its public investor filings, and you can watch the state franchise registries, where a genuine US program would eventually appear.
What bubble tea franchises can I actually buy in the US right now?
Several bubble tea brands run registered US franchise programs with real disclosure documents you can request and read. Kung Fu Tea, founded in Queens, New York in 2010, is one of the largest and has been continuously registered as a franchise for more than a decade. We have not torn it down, so this is a starting point rather than a recommendation, but the point is that you can get its FDD, read the real numbers, and run every check in this article, which is exactly what you cannot do with Mixue in the United States today.
The bottom line on the Mixue franchise in the US
Mixue is a real and remarkable company, the largest chain on earth by store count, loved by its customers, and profitable enough to have made its founders billionaires.
None of that is in question.
What is not true, at least not yet, is that you can buy a Mixue franchise in the United States. There is no registered FDD, the company's own US-facing account confirms the franchise has not launched, and the only thing the offer circulating online wants from you today is your money and your information.
Enjoy the ice cream if a store opens near you, follow the company if it interests you, and keep your details to yourself until a real disclosure document exists.
We tear apart one franchise disclosure document every week, screening the brands buyers actually search so you do not have to read 300 pages yourself. We take no money from franchisors or brokers, which means the reader is the only customer we answer to.
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