Erinome: Hello dear friends! Welcome to our podcast today. You know, there's a super popular milk tea brand called Mixue Bingcheng, right? They’re famous for being cheap and affordable. But guess what? They tried selling breakfast recently, and... it didn’t work out.

Enceladus: Oh no! Really? Mixue is like the "king of milk tea" in China, right? Their ice cream is only 2.5 yuan, lemon water 4 yuan. Everyone calls it "poor people's paradise" haha. Why did breakfast fail?

Erinome: That’s the question! Let me tell you. They launched a 7.9 yuan breakfast set: a pre-packaged bread and a milk drink. But people were not happy.

Enceladus: Wait, when they first said they’d do breakfast, people were excited, right?

Erinome: Exactly! Most people thought, "Wow, Mixue will make breakfast cheap too!" But when the set came out, reactions changed. Like, totally different.

Enceladus: So why? What’s wrong with the 7.9 yuan set?

Erinome: Well, first, the breakfast market is super competitive. You have KFC with 6 yuan sets, Family Mart, Lawson, Starbucks... even small street stalls with soy milk and fried dough sticks, or Baozi shops like Babi Mantou.

Enceladus: Oh right! Those are strong competitors. What’s a traditional breakfast like?

Erinome: A hot baozi plus soy milk or coffee—small shops sell that for 3.5 yuan! Convenience stores are around 7 yuan. But Mixue’s set? The bread and milk are all pre-packaged. Cold, not fresh, and not nutritious.

Enceladus: Cold? Oh, Chinese people love hot breakfast, right? Like, "hot and warm" is important in the morning.

Erinome: Exactly! For people in a hurry to work or school, they need hot, fast, cheap, and filling food. Mixue’s set? Not hot, not filling. Even the price—7.9 yuan isn’t cheaper than others.

Enceladus: So their usual "cheap and good" style didn’t work here?

Erinome: Yeah! Mixue’s brand is all about "high cost-performance". But this breakfast set? It’s like going against that. People thought, "Why buy this when I can get hot food for less?"

Enceladus: Did they not think about this before?

Erinome: Maybe they had their reasons. Mixue has over 53,000 stores worldwide now, but their average daily sales per store are dropping. They need more income, so they tried breakfast to use the morning time in stores.

Enceladus: Oh, to make the stores busier in the morning? That makes sense. But why pre-packaged food?

Erinome: Because pre-packaged is easy. No need for new workers or machines. They can use their existing supply chain. But... people don’t want cold, factory-made food for breakfast.

Enceladus: I heard reporters visited stores in Xi’an. How was it there?

Erinome: Most stores didn’t even sell breakfast. The ones that did had posters, but not many people bought it. A worker said students bought sometimes, but when the reporter was there, no one chose the breakfast set.

Enceladus: So people just didn’t care?

Erinome: Some said, "Mixue is for milk tea, not breakfast." Others complained, "5 yuan for the milk drink? I can buy cheaper milk in supermarkets. And the bread is cold—why not just buy it at home?"

Enceladus: Wow. So it’s not just about price, but also the product itself.

Erinome: Exactly! Like, KFC and McDonald’s used to sell hamburgers for breakfast in China, but people didn’t like it. Then they added porridge and fried dough sticks, and it got better.

Enceladus: Oh right! So Mixue maybe didn’t understand what people really want for breakfast.

Erinome: Yeah. People want "warmth" in the morning. A hot baozi, a cup of hot soy milk—those make them happy. Pre-packaged food feels... cold and not special.

Enceladus: But Mixue has advantages, right? So many stores, strong supply chain. Can they fix this?

Erinome: Maybe. If they make hot food, like fresh baozi or porridge. But their stores are super standardized—they like simple, easy operations. Making hot food needs more work. So it’s a problem: standardization vs. what people want.

Enceladus: That’s a tough balance. So will their breakfast plan fail completely?

Erinome: Hard to say. Right now, it’s just a test in some cities. If they listen to feedback and change—like cheaper, hotter food—maybe it can work. But for now, it’s not going well.

Enceladus: Sad. I really like Mixue’s cheap milk tea. Hope they figure it out.

Erinome: Me too! Well, that’s the story. Mixue tried breakfast, but forgot that breakfast needs more than just low prices—it needs heart, you know? Hot, fresh, and caring about people’s morning needs.

Enceladus: Yeah. Okay, that’s it for today. Thanks for listening, everyone! Let’s talk again next time. Bye!

Erinome: Bye!蜜雪冰城7元早餐卖的如何