South Korean bakery brand Paris Baguette now has 500 stores outside the country, driven by global consumer demand for Korean-made baked goods and the company’s fresh cream cakes particularly.

Brand owner SPC Group announced the inauguration of Paris Baguette’s 500th global store on Sunday, located at Changi Airport Terminal 2 in Singapore and named “T2 Landside branch.” The brand has been rapidly expanding its global footprint, opening new stores in various locations since the end of September 2023. The new branches are in places as diverse as Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey in the United States, Toronto in Canada, and Shanghai, Beijing, and Xi’an in China. With these stores, Paris Baguette has opened a total of 50 new stores in 2023 to date, indicating a robust global growth trajectory.

The company’s accelerated international expansion is made possible to its premium strategy, underpinned by baking skills that captivate consumers in Europe and the United States. The brand also focused on differentiating its international bakery outlets through its unique “Bakery Cafe” concept and strategic product offerings, including sandwiches and cream cakes. Paris Baguette also made a concerted effort to cater to local preferences by establishing local subsidiaries, joint ventures, master franchises, and other methods of localization.

Having opened its T2 Landside store, Paris Baguette now aims to tap markets that are predominantly Muslim, including Indonesia and the Middle East. The company plans to build a Halal-certified product production facility in Malaysia to cater to this market, which constitutes 24 percent of the global population. SPC’s strategy involves producing products that do not contain pork, respecting cultural sensitivities in Indonesia and Malaysia, and developing a diverse range of products catering to local tastes.

In addition to its expansion plans in Malaysia and Indonesia, Paris Baguette is actively testing its franchise business model in the United Kingdom. SPC Group has been consistently expanding its global presence since its first foray into the Chinese market in 2004, followed by its first U.S. store in 2005. Over the years, the brand has established a presence in ten countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

SPC Group continues to expand its franchise operations in the United States and China. The group opened nine new stores in the North American region in September 2023 to surpass the 150-store mark. The U.S. subsidiary also achieved profitability in the first half of 2023, the first time it did so since entering the market 18 years ago.

By Kim Geum-yi and Minu Kim

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