Chinese bubble tea chains go viral in South-East Asia

OPPOSITE a university campus on the outskirts of Jakarta, motorbikes line the front of Ricky Salim’s ice-cream and tea store. One of thousands of Mixue franchise owners across Asia, Mr Salim says his business is so good he hopes to open more outlets this year. Mixue, a Chinese firm which built its brand selling flavoured teas and soft-serve ice-cream in smaller Chinese cities with relatively modest average incomes, is exporting its model across South-East Asia. Its nearly 22,000 franchised stores worldwide, by early last year, made it the fifth-largest fast-food chain in the world by outlet, behind McDonald’s, Subway, Starbucks and KFC.