Mai Ji Milk CEO Xie Yongliang: Not setting store opening targets; focusing on depth is more important than breadth

Ask AI · What insights does CEO Xie Yongliang’s “going deeper” philosophy offer for innovation models in the restaurant industry?

On March 25, the 2026 China Catering Industry Festival and the 35th HCC Global Catering Industry Expo, jointly hosted by the World Chinese Cuisine Federation and Red Restaurant Network, was held at the Hangzhou Convention and Exhibition Center. At the “2026 China Catering Category Development Forum” in particular, Xie Yongliang, CEO of Maiji Milk, said outright that innovation is right—but if it’s only superficial “fake innovation,” then its necessity is not that great. He used examples such as Coca-Cola, KFC, and Wei Jia Liangpi to show that in the catering industry, going deeper is more valuable than going wider.

Xie Yongliang also mentioned that continuous innovation is not easy for scaled brands. Whether it’s the supply chain or store operations, frequently changing menus and ingredients will be a major challenge.

△ Xie Yongliang, CEO of Maiji Milk

Maiji Milk is positioned as “new Chinese-style sweet soups,” but Xie Yongliang doesn’t think the brand has made earth-shaking innovation within the sweet-soup category. Instead, it has only made “a little bit” of optimization and iteration on top of what was already established.

“Our team follows a ‘little by little’ principle in how we work. We try to do a little more of everything; think about how to do a little more in depth; how today can do a little more than yesterday; and how to do a little better,” he said.

For example, through research, the Maiji Milk team found that sweet soups in the past couldn’t achieve standardization because the SKUs were too complex and regional styles were too distinct. As a result, Maiji Milk chose to simplify its menu combinations, made small innovations on that basis, and ultimately sparked a sweet-soup craze within the tea-drink circle; today, it has 1000+ stores worldwide.

Looking ahead, Xie Yongliang said he will continue to adhere to the “little by little” principle, not set a target for opening stores, but instead slowly update and iterate to maintain its advantages and move steadily toward long-term success.

Author: Red Restaurant Editorial Office