"These days, food trends pass by too quickly. Many products are gone within a month. I wanted to create something that would be loved for a long time rather than a product that shines briefly for a season."
On the 3rd, Go Da-seul, 35, Dessert Team Manager at GS Retail's headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, diagnosed the convenience store food market trend as such during a meeting with Money Today. The 'Minumsa Bread' launched last month under Go's planning began from this very concern.
The Minumsa Bread, a collaboration between publisher Minumsa and the character IP 'Today's Cuteness', became a hit product that generated 100 million won in daily sales through packaging featuring literary works and characters, along with bookmarks. Launched on the 21st of last month, cumulative sales surpassed 430,000 units by the 2nd of this month, and the initial stock was sold out within a week.
As people flocked to check inventory via the app, the number of subscribers to the company's app 'Our Neighborhood GS' increased by 2.5 times. As the bookmarks shaped like book covers stimulated collection desires, causing shortages, cases emerged where they were being sold for 10,000 to 50,000 won on second-hand trading communities.
The starting point for Go's planning of Minumsa Bread was 'text hip', meaning 'it's cool to read'. While collaborations using idols or characters are popular, he noted that consumption often centers around fandoms. He said, "Since joining the company in 2016 and working as an MD for over a decade, I also felt tired of seeing similar collaboration methods repeated." He added, "I wanted to create products that people would want to buy even if they weren't specific fans, and I noticed a trend where people consume not just reading books but also sentences, covers, and related goods as a matter of taste."
The decisive trigger was the Seoul International Book Fair. Due to his job nature, Go frequently visits venues popular with younger generations. He saw long lines at the Minumsa pop-up store. He said, "I went there out of curiosity about how much young people love literary goods, and seeing it on-site made me think 'this will work'."
The part he worried most about during product development was what kind of good to put inside the bread. He explained, "In popular character breads, band seals (stickers) are commonly used, but they just end up being collected by enthusiasts. After considering a good that could actually be kept and used for a long time, I proposed trying a bookmark."
Go is particularly interested in the fact that the culture of consuming what you like regardless of age has grown, rather than simple character consumption. While convenience store products used to compete based on price, taste, and convenience, now they must also reflect which cultures consumers respond to.
He said, "The phenomenon where people in their 30s enjoy characters and goods just like the 1020th generation and spend money freely according to their tastes is called 'multi-age'. As hobbies become more specific and diverse, I hope convenience stores and bread also move to fit this trend."
Having multiple hobbies and a personality that likes characters allowed him to lead trends quickly. Showing off a phone case with Hello Kitty drawn on it, he laughed, "I've always liked dolls and characters, so I used to hear people say 'what kind of character for someone in their 30s', but after this product did well, even my parents stopped nagging."
He paid attention not only to the bookmarks but also to the competitiveness of the bread itself. He utilized products that had received good customer evaluations at existing GS25 stores. He said, "Food ultimately needs to taste good for customers to return." He added, "Looking at reviews, it was fortunate that many people responded that while they bought it because of the bookmark, the bread also tasted good."
What Go ultimately wants to create is not a 'seasonal product' but a long-lasting product that consumers remember even after trends pass. He emphasized, "I want to create many products where people think 'GS25 brings up this product'. I aim to expand the scope of collaboration beyond literary works to include collaborations that can coexist with regions and have positive cultural impacts."
in LIVING
