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| Customers buy bakery products at a Paris Baguette store in Red Bank, New Jersey, Feb. 6. Courtesy of SPC |
By Kim Jae-heun
The country's top two bakery chains Paris Baguette and Tous Les Jours are competing hard to expand in the United States, according to company officials Thursday.
Unlike what many have predicted, Paris Baguette and Tous Les Jours have successfully targeted local customers to establish their presence in a country that consumes bakery products on a daily basis.
"Our strength lies in offering a variety of products. We have about 300 different kinds of bakery items including sandwiches, bagels, croissants and donuts. We also serve products in small portions, so the customers can try every menu item at once," a SPC official said. "These days, our whole cake products made with fresh cream are selling well. Our staff working in Manhattan stores told us that Paris Baguette cakes are much loved for their sophisticated designs." SPC is the operator of Paris Baguette.
Paris Baguette is estimated to have achieved over 450 billion won ($343.1 million) in global sales for the first time in 2022.
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| CJ Foodville's Tous Les Jours store in Chantilly, Virginia / Courtesy of CJ Foodville |
CJ Foodville, operator of Tous Les Jours, is winning over locals' palates by using Korean food materials like kimchi and sweet red bean paste.
"The understanding of Korean food in North America has improved enough that locals even enjoy eating kimchi by itself recently. So products like kimchi croquettes are selling well there," a CJ Foodville official said.
CJ Foodville's U.S. sales soared 45 percent last December, year-on-year, thanks to the growing popularity of its bakery products.
SPC currently operates 120 Paris Baguette stores in the U.S. and it plans to open 60 more within this year. CJ Foodville runs 86 stores and they all have achieved five years of consecutive surpluses as of last year.
The two companies said they will expand the number of bakery stores to 1,000 by 2030.
Indonesia is the next targeted market for the two local bakery franchises as it is well-known for its young population. SPC and CJ Foodville want to use Indonesia as a stepping stone to enter the Southeast Asian market.
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