Fu Lu Jia brewery: the “MIXUE” of craft beer?

For many young people today, drinking is becoming increasingly diverse, whether it's enjoying a drink alone or finding a drinking buddy. Craft beer, once seen as niche and upscale, is also undergoing a transformation.

A craft brewery called Fu Lu Jia offers group-buying prices on Dianping: ¥18.9 ($2.60) for 1.5 liters of German-style wheat beer and ¥28.2 ($3.90) for 1.5 liters of fruit-flavoured craft beer. Additionally, offline stores sell original craft beer for ¥6.6 ($0.90) per cup, fruit-flavored craft beer for ¥9.9 ($1.40), and fruit tea-flavoured craft beer for ¥12.9 ($1.80). The ¥9.9 price point inevitably brings Luckin Coffee to mind, as this brand is indeed emulating the business model of tea drinks.

Fu Lu Jia’s group purchase deals on Dianping and offline store menu. Images are from RED.

In terms of business strategy, Fu Lu Jia mirrors the approach of MIXUE —focusing on low-end consumers and penetrating smaller markets. They choose locations in secondary commercial areas or community shops and offer beer served in disposable plastic cups or packed in bags. Their store design, colour scheme, and menu layout all closely resemble those of MIXUE.

The beer packaging and store decor. Images are from RED.

In terms of store operations, Fu Lu Jia has simplified things even further compared to tea drinks. Since beer doesn’t need to be made on-site, staff require minimal training—just handling orders and serving drinks. This model not only reduces management complexity but also minimizes food safety concerns.

The beer packaging and store decor. Images are from RED.

Data from Dianping shows that the brand has opened over 130 stores in new first-tier, second-tier, and third-tier cities across the country. Its small store format, low entry barriers, and focus on take-away have introduced a new possibility for the craft beer industry. As more consumers seek unique and personalized craft beers, the category is shedding its niche, high-end image and moving towards broader consumer appeal. However, compared to tea drinks, issues such as maintaining flavour differentiation and adapting to seasonal changes mean that craft beer still has a long way to go.

Doesn’t the store design of Fu Lu Jia look almost identical to that of MIXUE?

It will be interesting to observe how the craft beer scene evolves in the medium term. In many categories, consumers get a taste for a low-cost-low-risk entry level product, and as they get more sophisticated, they seek more premium products. The opposite is clearly happening in the craft beer category at present, as it has done with coffee. But consumer sentiment is historically low at present, which means behaviour is unlikely to be normal. Similarly, as for coffee, craft beer consumers in lower tier cities are entering the market at a low price point. As they become more affluent and discerning, there is a good chance that they will trade up as well. And that will see large volumes of more premium ale and coffee. When sentiment returns to more normal levels, we might start to see quite different behaviour.