Xiaomi (小米) canteen debuts "Xiaomi Ice Cream" — Standard/Pro/Max from 5.99 yuan, employees only

Employees-only reveal sparks social buzz

It has been reported that a new canteen product called "Xiaomi Ice Cream" drew attention on Chinese social media after Redmi product manager 笋寸 shared photos from Xiaomi (小米)’s internal "2026 Values Conference." The product is being offered in three trims — Standard, Pro and Max — priced at 5.99, 6.99 and 8.99 yuan respectively, but reportedly only for company employees. Redmi is Xiaomi’s smartphone sub‑brand; the post pushed the topic onto hot‑search lists and raised the question: will this stay an internal perk or become a public item?

From tofu ice‑cream inspiration to millet mashup

According to Xiaomi’s corporate Weibo, the dessert was developed by canteen chef 邴佳宝. He reportedly iterated three times — moving from steamed millet clumps to low‑temperature frying, and finally borrowing tofu “breakdown” techniques to blend millet and milk into a smooth base, finished with naturally cooled millet grains on top. The post claims the recipe solves the long‑joked industry problem of "小米没味儿" (Xiaomi/millet has no taste). It has been reported that the ice cream sold out quickly; photos shared by staff also showed an ice cream machine bearing a Mengniu (蒙牛) logo, it has been reported.

Canteen culture, branding and regulatory limits

Xiaomi brought its canteen in‑house in 2015, employing chefs and staff on company payroll as part of an effort common among large Chinese tech firms to boost morale and control quality. The company has previously seen canteen items — notably a yogurt mahua pastry — go viral, and users suggested Xiaomi sell such items on its store. But Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has said the company lacks a food‑sales license, meaning retailing canteen dishes externally is legally constrained. So will the next viral snack ever reach outside customers? Probably only if Xiaomi navigates licensing and regulatory hurdles — or decides to spin food into a separate, licensed business.