Latest news with #SPCGroup
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Paris Baguette: The Korean bakery that wants to make croissants less French
Head into the basement of any bustling mall in Singapore and the chances are you will smell the sweetness of fresh, buttery baked lines of people swarm the counters of Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese and Singaporean bakeries – tray and tongs in hand, after picking out cream rolls and milk breads or filled croissants and fruity pastries from crowded display Paris Baguette, its inspiration is clearly in the name, the outlets are also decorated with the colours of the tricolour, the signage shows the Eiffel Tower and the ambience seems to be aiming for something close to the charm of a Parisian it is 100% Korean."I wouldn't limit our bread to everything from France. We are an international brand," says Jin-soo Hur, president and chief executive of SPC Group, which owns Paris Baguette."Like croissants, could you say this is a European product? I would say it's a universal product."SPC traces its roots back to a small family-owned bakery shop that opened 80 years is now a key player in mass producing bread and pastries in South Korea, employing 20,000 people across all its brands. SPC says its sales hit $5.6bn (£4.26bn) last 1988, Paris Baguette was born becoming the first Korean bakery brand to open an international store in China, which continues to be a big it has 4,000 stores across 14 countries including in Asia, Europe and the Baguette has big overseas expansion plans, setting a target of more than 1,000 new branches internationally by 2030 – many of them in the investing in a factory in Texas which will become its largest overseas production facility when it is completed in 2027, supplying the US, Canada and Latin America. For Mr Hur, capturing the American market is a priority because it would mean Paris Baguette has succeeded internationally. Food as culture Sport is central to Paris Baguette's strategy through a partnership with English Premier League football club Tottenham had a similar deal with France's Paris St Germaine for two seasons, providing fans with its baked products and desserts on match days of home games."I think food is culture. Sports brings a lot of people into the stadium, and there's always good vibes in London," said Mr captain of South Korea's national team was also the captain of Spurs. Son Heung-min led his team to victory in the Europa League last month, ending the club's 17-year wait for a trophy. It's not about a Korean leading Spurs for Mr Hur is a "top club and Paris Baguette wants to be best in class too," he says. K-mania Workers don't like to wake up early to knead dough by hand, Mr Hur says softly. He credits his company's system of delivering frozen dough to franchises around the world for improving efficiency and extending shelf has a strong heritage of baked goods, but with rapid urbanisation, and changing lifestyles demand for on-the-go convenience foods is growing across the region already offer a huge variety of like pain au chocolat and sandwiches are abundant, but they are also known for Asian-inspired flavours - be it pandan, durian, salted egg, red bean or matcha-filled croissants and Baguette is responding to the demand through a halal-certified plant in Malaysia, to supply customers in South East Asia and the Middle the fascination around Korean culture globally, experts say there could be an opportunity for Asian bakeries to see even more and Japanese culture is so popular around the world now that maybe they're seeing things on their screen, and then they're willing to try it as well, said Saveria Busato, a pastry and bakery chef at the Culinary Institute of America in Singapore."I just came back from a trip to Italy and I was quite surprised to see a lot of Asian bakery and pastry shops in Italy and I was super see the local people, the Italian people, that they were kind of exploring."But can frozen dough produce the same quality of goods as an artisanal bakery? I put Chef Busato to a blind taste test. He pulls apart a croissant made with frozen dough (although he doesn't know it), inspecting the elasticity and smelling it."This is quite bad. There is no honeycomb inside, it's totally hollow. The lamination doesn't have much strength because the internal part collapses. There is no butter profile. It's gluey and dense. There is no smell," he tells me. Chef Busato acknowledges that it isn't practical to seek artisanal standards if you're mass-producing baked goods, and so big players will have to rely on frozen about the traditional Asian baked goods though? Chef Busato on tasting a Korean milk bread, a fluffy white bread filled with cream, said he thinks it would do well in Europe."It's fantastic. It's very good. The smell of milk is coming over is nice. It's fluffy. It's refreshing... Reminds me of some kind of snack when I was younger that I was bringing to school." Adapting tastes The cost-of-living crisis is a major challenge for Paris Baguette – not least because of the US inflation rate as it seeks to push into the American market. A lot of companies are having to change their business because it's not profitable for them, Mr Hur of Paris Baguette's biggest competitors globally – Pret A Manger – has had to experiment with subscription services and expand dine-in options after Covid pushed the sandwich and coffee chain into loss, and it was forced to close dozens of outlets and cut more than 3,000 global economic environment weighs on Mr Hur too but he insists profit is not his only goal. "If we are only trying to make profit, we'll just stay in Korea," he says."We want to change the bread culture around the world. I want to find a way to keep opening up a lot of bakeries. It is good for my country, and good for people."
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oh là là! Paris Baguette to open its first Fort Worth bakery location on Monday
Paris Baguette, a fast-growing chain of French-inspired bakeries and cafes, will open its first Fort Worth location on Monday, May 19. The bakery's menu includes sweet and savory pastries, breads, donuts (including mochi and croissant varieties), breakfast sandwiches, salads and wraps, as well as an assortment of hot and cold coffee drinks. It's especially popular for its wide selection of cakes — the menu includes such delights as a chocolate hazelnut cake with Nutella, a chocolate mousse salted caramel layer cake, a blueberry chiffon cake and a strawberry soft cream cake. The company's stated mission is to 'reestablish the neighborhood bakery café as the heart of the community around the world.' On Sunday, employees were seen inside the bakery training for that lofty goal. Paris Baguette already has more than 200 locations in North America, including franchise North Texas locations in Grand Prairie, Coppell, Lewisville, Carrollton, Frisco and Allen. The new Paris Baguette location is in far north Fort Worth at 2700 N. Tarrant Parkway, just west of Interstate 35W, in a recently built strip center near the popular Chicago hot dog joint Portillo's. The bakery's hours are 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The chain is owned by Korea-based SPC Group, which first entered the U.S. market in 2005. The company is building its first North American food manufacturing plant in Burleson, creating 450 jobs. The 267,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed by late 2027 in the Highpoint Business Park in south Burleson off Interstate 35W. SPC Group pledged an initial investment of $165 million, with Burleson and Johnson County contributing approximately $10 million. SPC Group plans on reaching 1,000 franchises in North America in the next five years. The Burleson plant will also serve as a jumping-off point for Latin American expansion. In addition to manufacturing products for Paris Baguette cafes, the facility will distribute products for bread maker Samlip, a SPC Group subsidiary.
Korea Herald
19-05-2025
- Korea Herald
Another SPC worker dies in fatal bread factory accident
A worker died Monday in a fatal accident at a bread factory affiliated with bakery giant SPC Group, police said. The accident occurred at SPC's factory in Siheung, 35 kilometers southwest of Seoul, at around 3 a.m., when the worker, known only as a woman in her 50s, reportedly had her upper body caught in the conveyor belt during lubrication work. When rescuers arrived at the scene, she was lying on the floor after being separated from the machine, with her head damaged. She was responsible for spraying lubricant to ensure the conveyor belt runs smoothly during the process of cooling hot bread. Police are investigating the exact cause of the accident and will consider booking factory officials on charges of occupational negligence resulting in death if any violation of safety rules is found. The labor ministry will also investigate whether the Industrial Safety and Health Act and Serious Accidents Punishment Act were violated at the factory. SPC's factories have been beleaguered by various workplace accidents in recent years. In October 2022, a 23-year old employee was killed after her upper body was caught in a sauce mixer at the group's factory in Pyeongtaek, 65 kilometers south of Seoul. In August 2023, a 50-something worker died after being trapped in a dough machine at a Seongnam factory of Shani Co., an affiliate of SPC. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
05-03-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Owner families in midsized firms need 3.8 yrs to rise to executive roles
Family members of owners of midsized companies in South Korea take less than four years on average to be promoted to executive management positions, a market tracker said Wednesday. A survey of the top 100 medium-sized businesses with total assets of less than 5 trillion won ($3.4 billion) each as of 2023 revealed that 101 out of 237 executives were members of the owning families, according to CEO Score. These individuals began their careers at their family-run companies at the average age of 30.7 and were promoted to executive roles at 34.5. In comparison, family members in large corporations reached executive positions slightly later, at the average age of 34.8, after joining their companies at 30.4. On average, it took 12.3 years for family members in midsized firms to advance to the position of president, slightly less than 12.9 years in large corporations. Notably, 33 family members in midsized firms were appointed to executive positions immediately upon joining the company. Hur Jin-soo, president of food company SPC Group, parent of bakery brand Paris Baguette, and Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun are some of the examples. On the other hand, Ottogi Chairman Ham Young-jun had the longest journey to an executive position, taking 22 years to be promoted. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
26-02-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
SPC completes 2nd overseas bakery plant in Malaysia
SPC Group, a South Korean food and beverage company, said Wednesday it has completed its second overseas bakery plant in Malaysia as part of its expansion strategy. SPC invested 80 billion won ($56 million) in the Paris Baguette plant, located at the Nusajaya Tech Park in Johor Bahru, with an aim to gain a share in the $2.5 trillion global halal market, the company said in a press release. Halal food refers to products that are prepared in a specific way according to Islamic Sharia law, which covers not only meat but also fruits and vegetables. Once operational, the Johor Bahru plant will serve as a major production hub for supplying the Paris Baguette brand's bakery products across the halal food markets of Southeast Asia and the Middle East, the release said. SPC has so far advanced into 14 countries with the Paris Baguette brand. The number of Paris Baguette outlets has exceeded 600 globally. The company currently operates a bakery plant in Tianjin, China, and is in the process of building a $160 million bakery plant in Texas in the United States. Based on the expanded production facilities, it aims to operate 12,000 Paris Baguette outlets by 2030. (Yonhap)
