Japanese food court cream puff chain has 1-hour lineups for lucky bags

Everyone wants a piece of Beard Papa this New Year’s.

Whenever fukubukuro season rolls around, shops of all kinds offer lucky bags full of various items at a discount but only a few have acquired a reputation of having the most sought-after lucky bags in Japan.

Starbucks is certainly one and minimalist lifestyle chain Muji had made a name itself as well, though recently their offerings seem to be slipping. However, many might be surprised to find that Beard Papa, a chain of cream puff venders often found in the food courts of shopping malls, is a rapidly rising star in the lucky bag scene.

This is also surprising since year after year they offer the same thing: a six-pack of cream puffs and gift certificates all in a Beard Papa tote bag. Despite its simplicity, people seem to be flocking to get one. Even when we sent our writer K. Masami to grab one, she was greeted with this lineup.

▼ Masami couldn’t even see the counter from the end of the line

It was an hour-long line to get a Beard Papa lucky bag. Afterward, Masami went around to other Beard Papa locations in Nara and found that they were all sold out, so this likely wasn’t an isolated incident of cream-puff mass-hysteria either.

When she finally got to the front of the line, a sign laid out what was offered in each bag. For 2,500 yen (US$19), customers get three custard cream puffs, three strawberry cream puffs, four 500-yen gift certificates, and a tote bag.

The sign even crunches the numbers for us and explains that each bag contains 3,314 yen ($25) worth of cream puffs and certificates for a saving of 814 yen ($6). This is all not including the value of the bag itself either and as Masami could see when she opened hers up, it was pretty well made.

Part of the reason for the long wait is that the cream puffs are all baked on-site. So, on the bright side, after all the waiting she could be sure hers were as fresh as possible.

She decided to try a strawberry one first and in true Beard Papa fashion it was fully loaded with cream.

Unfortunately, if you too wanted to get a Beard Papa bag, it’s already too late. If fact, it was too late by the time Masami had left the mall she was in.

▼ “Sold out”

The good news is that Beard Papa bags have been so consistent, we can probably expect the same thing again next year. Perhaps its that no-nonsense reliability that has made them one of the more popular lucky bag sellers in the country.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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