Blind box culture is built on that little hit of surprise, but the real flex is when a character stops being something you collect and starts being something you live with. That is the shift POP MART is chasing as it expands its IP from shelves into experiences people can taste, share, and post.
POP MART is doing that through POP BAKERY, an F&B concept that just debuted in Southeast Asia with a Singapore outlet at Resorts World Sentosa. The company framed the move in an announcement, positioning desserts and drinks as another way for its characters to show up in daily life, alongside offline destinations like POP LAND.
Table of contents
- Why POP MART is turning characters into everyday moments
- What POP BAKERY is, and how it was tested before scaling
- Why Singapore is a strategic market for POP BAKERY’s format
- What this means for marketers
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ContentGripPatrecia Meliana
Why POP MART is turning characters into everyday moments
For an IP-led brand, food changes the frequency of interaction. A figurine can become background decor, but a dessert is a moment: you go with friends, you take photos, you try the menu, and you leave with something to talk about. POP MART’s bet is that these low-stakes rituals can deepen fandom beyond one-off purchases.
That matters because POP MART is not treating POP BAKERY as “we now sell pastries.” It is treating it as an additional medium for IP storytelling, emotional connection, and character development, with the same IP showing up across products, physical destinations, and entertainment.
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Editorial TeamContentGrip
What POP BAKERY is, and how it was tested before scaling
POP BAKERY was incubated inside POP LAND, POP MART’s theme park in Beijing, where the company experimented with character-driven desserts, handcrafted beverages, and immersive experiences.
Instead of jumping straight to permanent stores, POP MART spent about two years testing the concept, including launching more than 30 mobile dessert kiosks across China to observe consumer reactions and gather feedback. The first permanent POP BAKERY opened in Aranya, China. The Singapore location is the second permanent outlet globally and the first in Southeast Asia.
Operationally, POP MART is also signalling that “cute” is not enough. The company built a dedicated in-house team around the food itself and has already adjusted products based on observed behaviour, such as shifting to larger cookie packs after seeing people prefer formats designed for sharing with friends and colleagues.
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ContentGripPatrecia Meliana
Why Singapore is a strategic market for POP BAKERY’s format
Singapore is a market where fandom is not just local. It is tourist-adjacent and regionally connected, which fits POP MART’s goal of building touchpoints that travel. POP MART entered Singapore in 2021, and the country’s role as an Asia-Pacific hub means POP BAKERY can serve both local fans and visitors.
The location choice reinforces that positioning. The outlet is in WEAVE at Resorts World Sentosa, which frames the bakery as part of a destination experience rather than a standard mall retail play.
POP MART also leaned into localisation in a way that fits collector culture: familiar characters, new exclusives. The store design includes subtle Peranakan cultural elements, and the menu includes Singapore-exclusive desserts inspired by local and Southeast Asian flavours, such as the Twinkle Twinkle coconut mousse variations, a sea salt and coconut popsicle, and a PUCKY xiao long bao dessert. The outlet is expected to refresh roughly every six to 12 months, keeping the setting changeable even as the IP remains consistent.
What this means for marketers
The bigger story here is not “brand extends into F&B.” It is how fandom brands are turning IP into repeatable, social rituals that people can return to, not just collect once.
- The “new merch” is an experience you can share
POP MART is leaning into behaviour that already exists: friends visiting together, buying shareable packs, photographing food, and treating the visit as part of the fandom experience. For marketers, this is a reminder that shareability is often built into the format, not added with a hashtag. - IP expansion works best when the medium changes the relationship
A bakery creates different emotional touchpoints than a collectible: it is casual, sensory, and social. POP MART’s framing suggests it is deliberately choosing categories that make the IP more present in everyday life, not just more available in more aisles. - Local exclusives are a retention mechanic, not only a launch tactic
Singapore-exclusive items and cultural design elements create a reason to visit this location specifically. That is not just “local flavour,” it is a way to make the experience feel earned and specific, which matters in fandom communities that care about uniqueness. - Iteration is part of the product, not a sign of uncertainty
Testing through kiosks, adjusting formats based on observed preferences, and planning periodic refreshes signals that POP BAKERY is designed as a living concept. Marketers should read that as a template: treat physical experiences like a content series that evolves, not a one-and-done store opening. - Measurement is shifting toward sentiment, not just traffic
POP MART plans to track POP BAKERY with foot traffic, repeat visits, and social engagement, while also treating consumer sentiment as a key indicator. That mix reflects how experiential retail is increasingly evaluated: not only “did they come,” but “did they want to come back and tell people.”
What POP MART is building looks like an IP ecosystem where characters can be encountered in multiple contexts: décor, jewellery, home appliances, theme park experiences, and even early-stage entertainment like a LABUBU feature film co-developed with Sony Pictures.
The strategic lesson is that fandom does not always need bigger drops. It needs more occasions. When brands create more reasons for people to spend time with an IP, the relationship becomes less transactional and more habitual.
And in a world where attention is fragmented, the most durable brand presence often comes from the smallest rituals people repeat, especially the ones they do with friends.
This article is created by humans with AI assistance, powered by ContentGrow. Ready to automate your content marketing?Book a discovery call today.
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