K-Pop Stars Like BTS’ RM Are Loving South Korea’s Pokémon Bread Trend
He went to *8* stores to get it.
Collecting Pokémon cards, toys, and video games has become a huge part of the famous franchise, but what about collecting bread? A South Korea-based company called SPC Samlip recently relaunched its popular Pokémon-themed bread after nearly 20 years off the market, and fans in South Korea couldn’t be happier. In fact, the trend is so popular that South Korea's Pokémon Bread is a favorite of BTS' RM and more K-Pop stars.
Given the hype, you might think Pokémon Bread is brand new, but it’s actually a blast from the past. SPC Samlip originally launched the Pokémon Bread in 1998, according to some knowledgable Twitter users. Though the bread didn’t actually look like your favorite Pokémon, each piece was wrapped in Pokemon-themed packaging and came with a collectable sticker — and the return of Pokémon Bread followed suit. According SPC Samlip’s Feb. 23, 2022 press release translated from Korean to English, the OG Pokémon Bread used to sell an average of 5 million piecers per month, so it’s no surprise after relaunching, the company sold 1.5 million units in just one week.
Between South Korean influencers showing off their loot on YouTube, and K-Pop stars like Younghoon from The BOYZ and RM from BTS sharing their love for the bread — and everyone else getting in on the very welcome return — the Pokémon Bread began selling out quickly.
According to images shared on Twitter and translated from Korean to English, as of March 13, it appears many stores were sold out of the bread featuring your favorite Pokémon characters. Elite Daily reached out to SPC Samlip for more information about whether the Pokémon Bread is sold out, but did not hear back at the time of publication.
It’s likely the bread sold out so quickly because Pokémon lovers were stocking up on the bread to sell the stickers at a premium, but it wouldn’t be a shock if the K-Pop stans following in the footsteps of their faves made up a good portion of the sales, too. And who can blame them? Even I’m nostalgic for the adorable bread and I’ve never tasted it.
What Is Pokémon Bread?
Pokémon Bread are pieces of cake-like bread that are sold in individual Pokémon-themed packages. There appear to be seven different character packages available. According to the company’s press release, The Return of Team Rocket’s Chocolate Roll has proven to be the most popular, making up 40% of the total sales as of March 3. Other options include a Charmander snack, a Pikachu package, and more characters. Each piece of Pokémon Bread also comes with a Pokémon sticker, which is a big part of what makes the fun snack so popular. Gotta catch ‘em all, right?
K-Pop Stars Loving Pokémon Bread
Before the sold-out signs reigned supreme, members of K-Pop royalty were on the hunt for the treats.
Younghoon showed off his Squirtle, Charizard, and Pikachu.
According to March 14 tweet, Younghoon from THE BOYZ went live and couldn’t contain his joy of collecting so many Pokémon Bread packs.
RM put in the ~work~ to get his hands on some Pokémon Bread.
According to a tweet of an RM Instagram Story, the BTS member went to eight different stores to get his hands on some bread.
EXO’s Kai was excited to find some Pokémon Bread in early March.
According to allkpop, Kai shared with fans on his Bubble social media that he found a package on March 7. It apparently took five days to find the bread in stock, and he scored the last pack.
RM made headlines for his standom of the treat.
I think I know what to get RM for his next birthday.
The love of Pokémon is real, and apparently if you’re a K-Pop superstar, you still have to put in the legwork to score a pack of Pokémon Bread. Hopefully they held on to a few, because it doesn’t look like the shelves will be restocked anytime soon.
