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Pop Mart Brings Labubu to the Dessert Table in Global Bakery Push
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia /Culture & Society

Pop Mart Brings Labubu to the Dessert Table in Global Bakery Push

From Asharq Al-Awsat · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Beijing-based toy company Pop Mart is expanding into the food industry with its first international bakery in Singapore.
  • The bakery features edible versions of its popular characters, like Labubu and Molly, in pastries and beverages.
  • This diversification aims to leverage intellectual property beyond toy manufacturing, though analysts question its long-term sustainability.

Pop Mart, the Chinese company renowned for its collectible 'blind box' toys, is venturing into the culinary world with the launch of its first international bakery in Singapore. The new establishment transforms its popular characters, including the distinctive Labubu, into edible treats, offering items such as black sesame Labubu popsicles and double cheesecake Molly.

We're ‌also considering ‌opening bakeries in Europe and the United States. It’s a ‌matter ⁠of timing, and we ⁠need to address issues like local supply chains.

— Zhang XiaoyangZhang Xiaoyang, head of Pop Bakery at Pop Mart, discusses future international expansion plans for the bakeries.

The two-story bakery, strategically located opposite Universal Studios Singapore, presents a menu of 45 toy-inspired pastries and beverages. Prices range from S$5 to S$32 (approximately $3.87 to $24.77). Singapore serves as the initial market for this expansion, with Pop Mart considering future bakery openings in Europe and the United States, contingent on timing and addressing local supply chain logistics, according to Zhang Xiaoyang, head of Pop Bakery at Pop Mart.

Pop bakery ‌is a great diversification tool because there's only so much a toy company can do, and they've probably hit the ceiling with toy manufacturing.

— Laura PanLaura Pan, lecturer at SDA Bocconi School of Management, comments on Pop Mart's diversification strategy.

This move into the bakery sector follows Pop Mart's test of the concept through over 30 dessert truck pop-ups in China and the debut of its first bakery in Qinhuangdao earlier this year. The diversification comes at a time when the company faces rising production costs and questions from analysts regarding the sustainability of its business model, as recent sales and earnings growth have fallen short of expectations.

However, should Pop Mart eventually launch bakeries in the US, ‌it remains to be seen how well they will be received considering the Labubu craze is losing steam.

— Laura PanLaura Pan expresses uncertainty about the reception of Pop Mart's bakeries in the U.S. market.

"Pop bakery is a great diversification tool because there's only so much a toy company can do, and they've probably hit the ceiling with toy manufacturing," commented Laura Pan, a lecturer at SDA Bocconi School of Management. However, she added that the reception of Pop Mart bakeries in the U.S. remains to be seen, especially if the popularity of characters like Labubu continues to wane. Pop Mart aims to emulate entertainment giants like Disney, converting short-term popularity into long-term success by integrating its intellectual property across various consumer touchpoints, including desserts.

We hope to use our IP (intellectual property) to accompany all aspects of consumers' lives, and desserts are one of them.

— Zhang XiaoyangZhang Xiaoyang explains Pop Mart's strategy of integrating its intellectual property into consumers' daily lives.
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Originally published by Asharq Al-Awsat. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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