[Edaily Reporter SHIN MIN JOON ] With convenience store chain GS25’s “Minumsa Bread” selling over 1 million units in just one month and sparking a bookmark-collecting craze, CU has now entered the fray with photo cards. With the launch of “Lissenne Bread,” created in partnership with the girl group Lissenne, competition among fanbases in the convenience store bread market is expected to heat up.

According to the convenience store industry on the 17th, CU—operated by BGF Retail(282330)—will begin rolling out five varieties of BAKE405 bakery products, known as “Lisenne Bread,” in collaboration with its brand ambassadors, the girl group Lisenne. A key feature of these products is that the Lisenne members were directly involved in the product development process. Each member’s favorite flavors and foods were incorporated into the product concepts, allowing fans to indirectly experience the members’ personal tastes.

First up is Won-i’s Corn Cream Bread, which is packed with Won-i’s love for corn. Minami’s Melon Bread recreates the melon bread she used to enjoy in her hometown. Mei’s Cinnamon Roll was inspired by her love for cinnamon, while Jena’s Strawberry Sandwich is based on the Japanese strawberry margarine bread she often eats. Liv’s Chocolate Hotteok combines her favorite chocolate with honey hotteok.

In particular, each product comes with one randomly selected limited-edition transparent photo card from a set of 27 featuring images of the ITZY members, offering fans the fun of collecting them.

Meanwhile, the four varieties of “Minumsa Bread” launched on the 21st of last month by GS25—operated by GS Retail(007070)—are enjoying immense popularity. Cumulative sales of Minumsa Bread have now surpassed 1 million units. Minumsa Bread was created through a collaboration between GS25, the publishing house Minumsa, and the character IP brand “Today’s Cuteness.”

The Minumsa Bread is characterized by a transparent bookmark enclosed inside each loaf. Each product randomly includes one of 20 different bookmarks—15 based on Minumsa’s World Literature Collection and 5 based on poetry collections. As demand surged from customers seeking the bookmarks, the GS Holdings stock-checking app experienced wait times of about 10 minutes. On some secondhand trading platforms, resales at a premium even became common.

Convenience stores are launching character-themed breads one after another because they can simultaneously boost sales and attract customers. According to CU, sales of collaborative bakery products, such as the “Lysanne Bread,” increased by 30.9% year-over-year from January to August of this year.

The “Gukjin Bread,” launched by SAMLIP Foods (now SAMLIP) in 1998, is considered the pioneer of character bread. At the time, the 500-won Gukjin Bread—which contained a sticker featuring the popular comedian Kim Guk-jin—sold more than 500,000 units per day. Following in its footsteps, “Pokémon Bread” was relaunched in 2022 featuring “Tibutibutisil” stickers and achieved success by selling approximately 10 million units within 40 days.

The emergence of so-called “adults” (a portmanteau of “adult” and “child”) as the primary consumer base is also contributing to the formation of this new culture. As consumers who ate “Guk-jin Bread” and “Pokémon Bread” in their childhood have grown into adults with purchasing power, character-themed breads that come with photo cards and stickers have established themselves as fandom merchandise that transcends generations.

A convenience store industry official stated, “Character breads offer the best of both worlds—not only can fans collect photo cards and stickers of their favorite characters or idols, but they can also enjoy a variety of bread flavors,” adding, “Competition among convenience stores to launch collaborative products that combine food with fandom content is set to become even more intense in the future.”