The marketing push comes as Korean baseball enjoys surging popularity, particularly among women in their 20s and 30s. (Image courtesy of Yonhap News)
SEOUL, March 27 (Korea Bizwire) — When the search term “Yonsei” suddenly trended on the CU convenience store chain’s mobile app on March 18, it wasn’t customers looking for the dairy company’s milk. Instead, Doosan Bears baseball fans were hunting for a new cream-filled pastry collaboration between CU, Yonsei Dairy, and their beloved team.
The specialty product, dubbed “Moksan” — a playful nickname combining “appetite” with “Doosan” that references the team’s fans’ legendary eating habits at baseball games — has become an unexpected sensation. Within just six days of its release, sales exceeded 120,000 units, claiming the top spot among CU’s dessert offerings. The product’s success has boosted CU’s overall dessert sales by nearly 20% in a single week.
“We never anticipated this level of demand,” said a CU representative on March 25. The snack’s popularity is particularly pronounced in Seoul, the Bears’ home city, which accounts for 54% of total sales.
The collaboration, which began taking shape in October 2024 when Yonsei Dairy approached the Doosan Bears, pays homage to the team’s historical connection to Yonsei University through Park Cheol-soon, one of Korean professional baseball’s inaugural players.
But this is just one hit in a broader surge of baseball-themed products sweeping South Korea’s retail sector as the 2025 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season approaches. SPC Samlip’s “KBO bread” collection, launched on March 20, achieved a company record with one million packages sold in just three days. The collection features unique pastries representing nine of the league’s ten teams, with designs ranging from the Kia Tigers’ chocolate roll to the Samsung Lions’ blueberry pastry.
Each package includes collectible stickers featuring team mascots and star players, sparking a secondary market on platforms like Karrot Market, where fans eagerly trade and sell rare stickers. Some industry observers compare the phenomenon to the Pokémon bread craze of 2022.
Other companies are quickly joining the baseball-themed marketing lineup. Woongjin Foods unveiled a special KBO edition of its barley drink on March 22, featuring team logos and mascots, while 7-Eleven has introduced Popcorn Chicken that can be prepared in five minutes, targeting baseball spectators.
The marketing push comes as Korean baseball enjoys surging popularity, particularly among women in their 20s and 30s. “With baseball attendance exceeding 10 million last year, we’re seeing young fans especially willing to open their wallets for products that appeal to their team loyalty,” said a retail industry representative.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
