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 about 30 outlets by 2024, there was still room for another player.
“We met BingXue at the right time”
The opportunity to bring BingXue to Singapore came exactly at the right moment. As it happened, the brand was in the early stages of expanding its presence across Southeast Asia, launching in Indonesia around 2022 and signing the Malaysia master franchisee in 2023. Both markets were gaining strong traction.
“We met BingXue at the right time,” James recalled. “Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, they hadn’t met many Singaporeans at past industry exhibitions. When we expressed interest, they were excited. They invited us to tour their production facility and headquarters in Shandong Jinan.”
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.
“We can say that we are convinced by this concept after this evaluation,” said James.
A S$700K investment to bring BingXue to Singapore
Though the couple declined to share full negotiation details, they invested a significant sum to bring BingXue to Singapore—about S$700,000, drawn entirely from their personal savings.
A large portion of this went into setting up BingXue’s first two outlets, one at Yishun Junction 9 and another at Changi City Point in Oct 2024. “We had budgeted S$80,000 for one shop and S$110,000 for the other shop,” said James, adding that he had approached multiple contractors and other vendors to keep expenses under control.
An even larger portion 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.
As master franchisees, HQ required them to open in high-footfall mall spaces to properly test the concept. Yet 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—both outlets were open by their target launch month.
Localising to Singaporean tastes
Opening one outlet at Yishun and another at Changi City Point might seem random, but it was a deliberate strategy by the couple.
“Yishun Junction 9 is a smaller mall with lower rental and lower foot traffic,” James explained. “We wanted to test whether the concept could work in a neighbourhood setting.”
“Changi City Point, on the other hand, has higher rental but much stronger visibility. It’s next to the Expo exhibition halls, so we knew people from across Singapore would pass through. That would help build brand awareness faster.”
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 70% sugar as the standard instead of the original formulation.
“There’s a trade-off with taste,” James acknowledged. “Most people find sweeter drinks more tasty, but they prefer something healthier. We had to find that balance.”
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 consult and align with BingXue HQ on menu and pricing. But in terms of branding and market approach, we have a lot of 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. “More people are starting to know about BingXue,” James said. “Nowadays, mall leasing managers will approach us with suitable units every now and then.”
Most outlets have been able to break even within one to two months. 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.
“There are a few areas we need to pay close attention to as we grow,” James explained. “For the supply chain, we need to make sure that our inventory level remains healthy… [while] managing cash flow.” The team also needs to be mindful of shelf life and ensure their logistics partners can keep up as the brand expands.
“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 800,000 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.
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