Pop Mart has opened its first international bakery in Singapore with an eye to turning the popularity of Labubu and its other characters into a wider lifestyle and entertainment business.
The Beijing-based brand has launched the two-storey Pop Bakery opposite Universal Studios Singapore at the Resorts World Sentosa complex.
Its menu features 45 character-themed pastries, desserts and drinks, including black sesame Labubu ice lollies and double cheesecake inspired by the Molly character.
The Singapore opening is expected to be the first step in a wider international rollout, with Pop Mart exploring potential bakery locations across Europe and the US.
Pop Bakery head Zhang Xiaoyang said the timing of further openings would depend on the business establishing suitable local supply chains.
It is also planning dessert shops across Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Pop Mart opened its first permanent bakery in the Chinese coastal city of Qinhuangdao in April, following trials involving more than 30 dessert-truck pop-ups across China.
The move is the latest attempt by the business to expand beyond the blind-box toys, plush products and bag charms that drove Labubu’s rapid rise among shoppers around the world.
SDA Bocconi School of Management lecturer Laura Pan said food offered Pop Mart a useful route into new categories as the company approached the limits of what it could achieve through toy manufacturing alone.
However, she questioned whether a future US bakery rollout would attract the same level of demand if consumer interest in Labubu continued to cool.
Pop Mart has increasingly sought to position itself as a global entertainment and intellectual-property business, following a model similar to Disney’s use of characters across products, experiences and media.
The retailer unveiled a partnership with Sony Pictures earlier this year to develop a Labubu film and has expanded Pop Land, its character-themed attraction in Beijing.
Zhang said the business wanted its intellectual property to become part of more areas of consumers’ lives, with desserts representing one new opportunity.
The bakery creates three-dimensional edible versions of Pop Mart characters rather than simply adding flat images or plastic decorations to its products.
The expansion comes as Pop Mart contends with rising production costs and scrutiny over whether the rapid growth generated by the Labubu craze can be sustained.
Its sales and earnings growth have fallen short of expectations in recent quarters, increasing pressure on the retailer to demonstrate that its characters can support a broader and more durable global business.
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