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| SPC Samlip's Pokemon cakes / Courtesy of SPC |
By Kim Jae-heun
SPC Samlip's "Pokemon" cakes have been going viral on and offline after the bakery firm recently reintroduced the product series after 24 years of retirement. The products have even been selling for higher prices on secondhand markets as the company struggles to keep pace with demand.
While Pokemon cake products sell for 1,500 won ($1.21) at local supermarkets and convenience stores, they trade for 3,000 won to 4,000 won on Joonggonara, the country's largest online used goods marketplace. Some of the items are even sold for almost 30 times the price online ― 40,000 won ― as collectors seek special animation character stickers found in the packaging. Pokemon character sticker collecting became hugely popular when it was first introduced in 1998.
K-pop star RM of Bangtan Boys also requested SPC to sell more Pokemon cakes on his social media recently.
SPC Samlip is doing its best to meet the increasing demand for the cakes, but it is now pressed beyond capacity.
"We are manufacturing Pokemon confectionery 24 hours a day to maximize our production, though, there is a difficulty in catching up with the soaring demand," an SPC Samlip official said. "We will increase our output to meet our customers' demand."
SPC Samlip's sales volume for its Pokemon cakes reached 3.5 million as of March 10. It sold 1.5 million in the first week and 2 million in the second week. The company did not expect its snack cake products to gain such popularity two decades after its last wave.
Convenience store staff are also reporting that many people have been asking for Pokemon cakes since SPC limited retailers from selling more than two items per day. Some stores have posted notices on their doors that read "No Pokemon cakes."
Before, the country's two top convenience stores CU and GS25 could sell four or five Pokemon cakes per day, respectively. Now, SPC has decided to limit its supply to one item per day for both retail stores.
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