(Yicai) June 2 -- US food giant General Mills will license its Häagen-Dazs ice cream outlets in mainland China to an investor consortium that includes Chinese tea chain Ningji, paving the way for the beverage maker to enter the premium ice cream sector.

The buyers will receive an exclusive license from General Mills to use the Häagen-Dazs brand in ice cream shops and gifting businesses in mainland China, the Minnesota-based company said yesterday, citing the agreement reached by the two sides. General Mills, which took over the Häagen-Dazs brand from US food producer Pillsbury in 2001, will continue to own and operate the Häagen-Dazs retail and foodservice operations in China.

Ningji, which opened its first hand-shaken lemon tea shop in Changsha in February 2021, had 1,799 outlets in China as of last month, while Häagen-Dazs had 262, according to Zhaimen Canyan, a big data platform for the catering industry.

The Changsha-based tea chain is backed by two of China’s most powerful internet companies. It secured cash injections from TikTok operator ByteDance in July 2021 and from Tencent Holdings in January 2022.

In recent years, the number of Häagen-Dazs stores in mainland China has declined sharply as its premium brand positioning has come under pressure from new-style tea chains and other ice cream competitors.

The firm, which was founded in 1961, had just over 250 stores in the Chinese market as of June last year, while rivals such as Bobio Ice and Mr. Wild both had over 1,000 stores, and DQ’s store count had exceeded 1,800, according to media reports.

Häagen-Dazs shops have low profit margins but high fixed costs, General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening said in June 2025, adding that footfall at Häagen-Dazs stores in China had fallen by a double-digit percentage from a year earlier.

Editor: Kim Taylor