Being second to market doesn’t mean being too late

In Sept 2021, in the middle of a global pandemic, James Leong and Joyce Lim packed up their lives in Singapore and moved their young family, including their three-year-old child, to Shanghai.

James had been promoted into an APAC regional role at his chemical raw materials company, while Joyce, coincidentally, was offered a China Representative position when she informed her employer of the relocation.

For a while, everything seemed to fall into place. But two years later, that sense of stability was shaken.

Joyce lost her job due to a company restructuring in Oct 2023. Then, in Mar 2024, feeling increasingly disillusioned with corporate life and sensing the fragility of long-term career security, James made a difficult choice of his own, resigning from what he describes as a “high-paying job.”

I was sick of corporate life and knew deep inside that it was a matter of time before my career would be affected if I continued on the same path.

Now, with both of them no longer tied to the careers that had brought them to China, the couple began looking for something else: a business they could build on their own terms. In 2024, they founded NutriSmart Group to explore opportunities in the F&B industry.

They didn’t have to look far. At a catering conference in Shanghai, the couple came across BingXue: a Chinese franchise built around fresh fruit teas and a signature S$1 ice cream cone. James was struck immediately, not just by the affordable price point, but by the quality behind it.

They began to seriously consider bringing the brand to Singapore, but there was just one problem: back home, a nearly identical brand, Mixue, had already become a fixture. The Chinese bubble tea and ice cream giant had arrived earlier, built strong brand recognition, and firmly captured the mass-market space: affordable, accessible, and quality-driven.

Still, James and Joyce went ahead anyway. Not out of naivety, but conviction—believing that being second to a market doesn’t always mean being too late for it.

There’s still room for another player

Conviction alone isn’t enough to validate a business. Before making any commitments, James and Joyce did their homework.

On the surface, BingXue and Mixue offered very similar products: S$1 ice cream cones, milk tea, fruit teas, and a range of affordable desserts designed for the mass market. The main difference between the two was BingXue’s stronger emphasis on matcha-based offerings.

Even so, the couple still believed there was a gap in Singapore’s mass-market F&B space—it was not fully served.

While cheap drinks are widely available in Singapore, many lean heavily on artificial flavours and lower-quality formulations. BingXue’s use of fresh fruit in its teas stood out in contrast, offering a sense of quality that was often missing at that price point.

And although Mixue had the first-mover advantage, launching in 2022 and already establishing a local footprint of over 10 outlets by 2024, there was still room for another player.

Right place, right time for regional expansion

The opportunity to bring BingXue to Singapore came exactly at the right moment.

As it happened, the brand was already expanding aggressively across Southeast Asia, entering markets including Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia between 2022 and 2024. Singapore was a logical next market.

“When we approached them, they were genuinely excited about the opportunity,” James recalled. “They invited us to visit their production facility and headquarters in Shandong Jinan… the rest, as they say, is history.”

After signing the Letter of Intent to become the master franchisee for Singapore, Joyce took on the role of market validator.

She returned to Singapore and spent full days stationed outside different Mixue locations—especially those in weaker locations—simply observing customer traffic and counting how many cups of drinks and ice cream cones were sold throughout the day.

Because BingXue and Mixue target the same mass-market segment, the goal was to understand how well this type of concept was already performing in Singapore.

The data they gathered, combined with their understanding of the BingXue business model, ultimately gave the couple the confidence to commit.

A six-figure investment to bring BingXue to Singapore

Though the couple declined to share full negotiation details, they invested a significant sum in the “high six-figures” to bring BingXue to Singapore, drawn entirely from their personal savings.

A large portion of this investment went into building the supply chain, including setting up import routes for raw materials, equipment, and inventory needed to run the stores in Singapore.

But the biggest challenge wasn’t just financial. It was finding the right locations.

Singapore’s retail landscape proved difficult to break into, with landlords cautious about unfamiliar new brands. The couple faced multiple rejections during their search.

The scepticism was understandable. A new Chinese food brand with no local track record was a risky tenant for landlords accustomed to proven operators. But the couple’s persistence paid off: they successfully opened two outlets in Oct 2024, at Yishun Junction 9 and Changi City Point.

Opening one outlet at Yishun and another at Changi might seem random, but it was a deliberate strategy by the couple.

Junction 9 allowed them to test the concept in a community setting—a neighbourhood mall with a regular customer base. Changi City Point, on the other hand, offered high footfall and broad visibility, particularly due to its proximity to Singapore Expo, which draws visitors from across the island.

“Together, these two locations would give us a well-rounded read on how different customer segments will respond to BingXue,” James explained.

Localising to Singaporean tastes

To better appeal to Singapore consumers, the couple didn’t bring everything over unchanged—they localised BingXue’s offerings.

One of the first adjustments James and Joyce made was reducing the default sugar level in drinks. Based on their observations, Singapore customers tend to be more health-conscious, so they set 50% sugar as the standard instead of the original formulation.

“It’s a subtle but important change, and customers notice it,” said James.

Beyond that adjustment, BingXue’s headquarters gave them flexibility with branding but maintained oversight on the menu and pricing. After all, the China team understood their product, but James and Joyce understood their market.

We work closely with BingXue HQ on menu and pricing decisions. On branding and marketing, we have considerable flexibility. They trust that we, as Singaporeans, understand our consumers better than they do.

The support from headquarters turned out to be far more hands-on than expected.

Despite Singapore being a relatively smaller market compared to Indonesia or Malaysia, the founder and CEO of BingXue visited with senior management twice in 2025 alone. Daily WeChat updates, strategic guidance, and problem-solving became an ongoing part of how they work together.

Expanding BingXue to 12 outlets

In the early days, when James and Joyce opened their first two BingXue shops, customer confusion with Mixue was inevitable. Some walked in expecting Mixue products, only to realise after ordering that the two brands were not the same.

Many even asked if the brands were related. The couple often had to explain the differences and clarify that while the concepts were similar, the two businesses were separate.

Over time, as awareness of the brand grew, so did interest from franchise partners. Since launching about a year and a half ago, BingXue has scaled to 12 outlets across Singapore.

Securing retail space has also become easier. “Today, mall leasing managers proactively approach us with suitable units,” James said. “That’s a meaningful reversal from our early days, and it reflects the growing recognition of BingXue.”

Most outlets have been able to break even within one to two months. But what the couple is most proud of is that many of their stores have been cash-flow positive from the “very first month” of operations.

In F&B, that’s rare—most businesses are bleeding cash in the early months just to keep the lights on. For our franchisees, that means from day one, the business is already covering its own costs and generating profit.

To support this, the team works closely with franchisees at every stage, from site selection and lease negotiations to renovations, licensing, and staff training.

Still, scaling hasn’t been without its challenges, especially in Singapore’s highly competitive F&B landscape.

Supply chain management has been critical, with the team needing to maintain healthy inventory levels without over-committing working capital, especially given the limited shelf life of key ingredients. Their logistics partners also had to scale in lockstep with the brand’s expansion.

“Many can sell ice cream for S$1, but not many can make money”

Singapore’s F&B landscape is only becoming more competitive. Coupled with the current global uncertainty in the Middle East, James expects transportation and material costs to increase significantly in the coming weeks and months.

To survive, he believes brands need to be clear about where they compete.

For BingXue, that meant focusing squarely on the lower end of the mass market. While margins are healthy in percentage terms, the low price points mean the business relies heavily on volume to stay profitable.

This is where economies of scale matter. By tapping into BingXue’s production capabilities in China, the brand benefits from lower costs at higher volumes—making it possible to keep prices low while remaining sustainable.

Many brands can sell ice cream cones for S$1. But not many can make money from this S$1. Even fewer brands can sell a good quality ice cream cone at S$1 and still make money. 

From the opening of its first outlet in Oct 2024 to Mar 2026, BingXue has sold more than 1.2 million ice cream cones across all its Singapore outlets.

Looking ahead, James and Joyce plan to continue expanding the brand’s footprint locally. Interestingly, while their early franchisees had no F&B background, they are now seeing more experienced operators come on board, an indication of growing confidence in the brand.

The team is targeting at least 50 outlets within the next three years. “With LOIs already signed and strong inbound interest from experienced F&B operators, the path to 50 is already being paved,” added James.

As for NutriSmart, the couple intends to grow it beyond BingXue, bringing in more overseas franchise concepts and building a platform that helps aspiring entrepreneurs start their own businesses with a proven model.

• Find out more about BingXue here.
• Find out more about NutriSmart Group here.
• Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.

Featured Image Credit: James Wong/ Quinn Lee via Google Reviews