The world-famous Korean bakery brand is poised for explosive expansion. It is launching a set of truly ambitious international initiatives. The bakery chain, which was founded in 1988, has blossomed under the aegis of SPC Group. As Jin-soo Hur, the company’s president and chief executive, told me in a recent interview. With over 4,000 locations across 14 countries, including Asia, Europe, and the United States, Paris Baguette is on track to further expand its global footprint.
Paris Baguette, for example, is doubling down on their commitments with a $127 million investment in a new factory in Texas. Once finished in 2027, this facility will become the brand’s biggest production site outside of its home country. This facility will provide products delivered to U.S., Canadian and Latin American markets. It would enable the bakery to scale its operations to keep pace with the increasing demand in these areas.
As you can see, Paris Baguette has a pretty ambitious vision. In fact, they’re looking to open more than 1,000 new branches overseas by 2030. Hur makes it clear that this growth is not just focused on the bottom line, but on improving the world’s bread culture.
“If we are only trying to make profit, we’ll just stay in Korea,” – Jin-soo Hur
Hur’s commitment to elevating culinary experiences aligns with Paris Baguette’s partnerships with prominent sports organizations. The bakery has collaborated with Tottenham Hotspur, the English Premier League football club. So now fans can chow down on tasty homemade baked goods and desserts at home games! For the record, Paris Baguette had an even longer-term partnership with France’s Paris Saint-Germain that lasted two years.
“I think food is culture. Sports brings a lot of people into the stadium, and there’s always good vibes in London,” – Jin-soo Hur
The bakery chain’s foreign foray signals a larger effort to shake up consumer expectations around baked goods. Hur worries that the brand is putting itself in a box, restrictive to only French products.
“I wouldn’t limit our bread to everything from France. We are an international brand,” – Jin-soo Hur
He goes on to make the case even more, exploring how baked goods such as croissants can move around the world and change their original context.
“Like croissants, could you say this is a European product? I would say it’s a universal product,” – Jin-soo Hur
In addition to using quality ingredients, Paris Baguette is dedicated to serving customers with a variety of dietary needs around the world. To cater to different tastes and grow its consumer base, the company has operated a halal-certified plant in Malaysia.
The more the bakery expands and experiments with new wares, the more the original bakery is called into question and fired at for diluting quality and authenticity. Chef Busato has gotten on his high horse about the butteriness of some croissants, croissant contretemps. He called out in particular their texture and flavor balance.
“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,” – Chef Busato
Though the road’s been rocky, Paris Baguette is more committed than ever to their mission of bringing the freshest, most made-from-scratch baked goods to an expanding public. With the company’s investments in production locations, we will continue to strengthen and expand global bread culture. Moreover, it is building strategic coalitions to ensure long-term change in this field.
“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,” – Jin-soo Hur