---
title: "Chicecream: A Vertical Plunge"
description: "How long has it been since you last heard from Chicecream? When you do, it's always bad news. Over a mere 800,000 yuan, Chicecream and its founder Lin Sheng were restricted from high consumption, topping hot searches for two days. Since October last year, news of layoffs and unpaid wages has been constant, with the company being sued by suppliers and partners. Is the former 'Hermès of ice cream' really about to fall?"
author: "陈碧婷"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2024-03-21"
language: "en"
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---

# Chicecream: A Vertical Plunge

> How long has it been since you last heard from Chicecream? When you do, it's always bad news. Over a mere 800,000 yuan, Chicecream and its founder Lin Sheng were restricted from high consumption, topping hot searches for two days. Since October last year, news of layoffs and unpaid wages has been constant, with the company being sued by suppliers and partners. Is the former 'Hermès of ice cream' really about to fall?

How long has it been since you last heard from Chicecream? When you do, it's always bad news. Over a mere 800,000 yuan, Chicecream and its founder Lin Sheng were restricted from high consumption, topping hot searches for two days. Since October last year, news of layoffs and unpaid wages has been constant, with the company being sued by suppliers and partners. Is the former 'Hermès of ice cream' really about to fall?

**The Ordeal**
What was bound to happen has finally come. As early as last October, 'ice cream assassin' Chicecream suddenly turned into an 'employee assassin.' Multiple netizens claiming to be Chicecream employees spoke out on social media, demanding the company 'pay back owed wages.' At that time, Chicecream responded to external pressure, saying it was actively resolving the disputes and operations were normal. After months of silence, in recent days, Chicecream has frequently topped hot searches again, but all with bad news. Earlier this month, the topic 'Chicecream price drops from 60 yuan to 2.5 yuan' hit hot searches, signaling that this premium ice cream brand was starting a clearance sale. However, other media reported that the 2.5 yuan Chicecream was only for some near-expiry products, not a large-scale price reduction across all products. Currently, Chicecream's Tmall flagship store still has products on sale, all pre-sale with delivery within 15 days. Other details also reflect that Chicecream's operations are not normal. Its official Weibo has not been updated since August last year. Its official Douyin account, which previously streamed daily or every other day, streamed for only half an hour on March 8 from 19:14 to 19:47 before going offline. After that, for a week, the official account did not start new streams. Unusual events often signal trouble. On March 12, Chicecream and its founder Lin Sheng were reported to be restricted from high consumption. Just because of an arbitration case with a subject matter of only 818,100 yuan, the company failed to execute on time. Authoritative media visited Chicecream's headquarters in Shanghai and found the main gate temporarily closed due to 'internal renovation,' and the R&D area empty during working hours. Some Chicecream employees said they had not been paid on time for several months, and employees were no longer required to be at work. Since the end of last year, Chicecream has frequently been a defendant, mostly in purchase and service contract disputes with suppliers. Due to litigation, equity in several subsidiaries has been frozen.

**Internet Celebrity**
In 2018, when Lin Sheng decided to make ice cream himself, he probably didn't expect Chicecream to grow so fast, nor that it would end up in such a situation. Lin Sheng, with a background in advertising, successfully managed two ice cream brands in Northeast China in 2015 and 2016: Modern and Zhongjie. Especially his creation of Zhongjie 1946, turning this regional ice cream brand based in Shenyang into the first generation of internet-famous ice cream in China. These two experiences allowed Lin Sheng to thoroughly understand the ice cream industry and see its huge development potential. With Chicecream, Lin Sheng maximized his marketing talent. Whether it was the brand name taken from a hundred family names or the tile-shaped product design, it perfectly matched the rapidly popular 'national trend.' From its launch, Chicecream focused on high-end and used e-commerce as the core sales channel, avoiding direct competition with traditional ice cream giants. During the 2018 Double 11, Chicecream launched a limited edition 'Ecuador Pink Diamond' priced at 66 yuan per piece, selling over 20,000 pieces in one day. This further solidified its high-end brand positioning as the 'Hermès of ice cream.' At that time, the new consumption track was hot, and in the eyes of capital, every traditional industry could be transformed once with the internet. Chicecream's emergence stirred the long-quiet ice cream market and became a darling of capital. From July 2018 to May 2021, Chicecream quickly completed angel, Pre-A, and A rounds of financing, obtaining hundreds of millions of yuan, with many major capitals investing. With the internet celebrity effect and capital support, Chicecream grew rapidly. Just 16 months after launch, revenue exceeded 100 million yuan, and in 2021, revenue exceeded 1 billion yuan. For three consecutive years, it ranked first in the ice cream category on Tmall during the 618 shopping festival. At this time, crises were also approaching Chicecream.

**Backlash**
The internet made Chicecream, but during its rapid expansion, various problems were also magnified by the internet. Is a Chicecream stick, often priced over ten yuan, really as good as advertised? Users found that it claimed 'no water added,' but in fact, there was water content; its brewed red grape ice cream claimed to use 'only special-grade red grapes from the core grape planting area of the Turpan Basin,' but actual testing showed it used 'bulk/grade one' raisins. Due to suspected false advertising, the company was repeatedly subject to administrative penalties from market regulators. A bigger crisis came in the summer of 2022. This was supposed to be the peak season for ice cream sales. A topic 'Chicecream doesn't melt after one hour at 31 degrees room temperature' directly raised user doubts about product safety. Later, it evolved into 'Chicecream doesn't melt even when burned with fire,' adding fuel to the fire. This phenomenon occurred because carrageenan was added to the ice cream. Although carrageenan is widely used in the food industry as a thickener, stabilizer, and emulsifier, as a high-end product with a corresponding high price, users had higher expectations. No matter how Chicecream explained, consumers decisively left, and sales plummeted. Expanding too fast and sinking too quickly were another major mistake in Chicecream's development. Without solid brand-user communication, products were hastily placed in freezers of small shops in third-, fourth-, and fifth-tier cities, turning Chicecream into an 'ice cream assassin.' At this point, Lin Sheng began to reflect, adjust pace, and slow down. In March 2023, he launched a new product Sa'saa at 3.5 yuan per stick, attempting to enrich the product line and attack the broader mass market with a 'dimensional reduction' strategy. However, it was too late. At the 2024 distributor conference, Chicecream themed it 'Darkest Hour, Walk Toward the Light.' At the meeting, Lin Sheng announced 'this year we only do 300 million yuan in business' and would significantly reduce distributors. Distributors were more concerned about whether the brand could avoid another public opinion crisis. Throughout Chicecream's growth, it has been accompanied by internet celebrity controversy. Lin Sheng had his own understanding. In his view, in the internet era, to build a brand, you must first become an internet celebrity to break out, then strive to become a long-term hit; persistence plus time will turn it into a brand. 'By the tenth year of Chicecream, I think no one will come to talk to us about internet celebrity issues.' But can Chicecream survive until its tenth year?

_Click to read the original text to see more about the 9th China FMCG Innovation Conference and the 2nd China FMCG Hard Discount Conference & the 2nd China FMCG Distributor Conference..._


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