The World's Biggest Fast Food Chain Isn't McDonald's Or Starbucks

When you hear how many McDonald's restaurants there are in the world — over 44,000 as of this writing! — it's easy to imagine that the Golden Arches is the drive-thru giant with the most global locations, right? No? Okay, how about Starbucks? Well, the Siren only has just over 32,000 locations, which also puts it out of the running. What if you were to hear that there's another fast food behemoth with a location count that puts everyone else to shame ... and you've likely never even heard of it, because it has very few American stores? Get ready to discover Mixue Bingcheng, also called Mixue Ice Cream & Tea.

With a name that translates to "honey snow ice city," Mixue Bingcheng boasts a whopping 46,000 locations ... and it's only growing. The chain is based in the Henan province of China, and most of its stores are currently spread across Southeast Asia. While Starbucks has played around with limited boba tea offerings on its summer menu, Mixue Bingcheng is big in the boba business, slinging bubble tea and soft serve at ridiculously low prices. When converted from yuan to American dollars, most items clock in at under $2, meaning that customers can give themselves a sweet treat minus a big financial hit.

The first American outlet of Mixue Bingcheng is set to open soon in New York City, with the store located near Chinatown. Residents of the Big Apple will be the first Americans to try the widely beloved boba teas, lattes, and sundaes on U.S. soil.

If the Chinese city Zhengzhou had a list of the best local fast food chains when Mixue Bingcheng was founded in 1997, Mixue would still likely not have appeared on it. Zhang Hongchao, the founder, came from a poor family and was captivated by the idea of selling affordable snacks to the masses. Unfortunately, his first venture, a shaved ice stand, was a failure. It wasn't until Hongchao opened another eatery in 2001 and added a budget soft-serve counter that business started booming. After Mixue had expanded to 20 locations, the company brought coffee and boba tea, which was exploding in popularity, to the menu. It was a winning combination, to say the least.

Mixue Bingcheng is unique among fast food companies in how it's financially structured. Around 99% of its locations are franchises, and the corporation makes most of its income by selling packaging and food ingredients to franchisees. Today, there are Mixue locations on four continents, which will shortly expand to five when the NYC location opens. It boasts more locations than any other worldwide competitor, but its sales lag behind other chains due to its cheap menu items and tighter margins. The chain's eager investors are assuming that continued international expansion will do nothing but grow those numbers, however. Only time will tell if the chain of Chinese sweet shops fares as well in America as it does elsewhere in the world.