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| People wait in line to purchase bakery items at a Paris Baguette store in Toronto, Wednesday. Courtesy of SPC |
By Kim Jae-heun
SPC, a Korean food manufacturer and confectionery, said its first Paris Baguette store in Canada opened in Toronto, Wednesday.
The 214-square-meter Yonge & Sheppard branch opened its doors on the first floor of Yonge Shopping Centre in Toronto. The store features a self-service system to help customers in the busy district choose and purchase products quickly.
Canada, the world's second-largest franchise industry after the United States, is the 10th overseas country where SPC has opened Paris Baguette stores. Following its entry into the United Kingdom last October, SPC has been expanding its bakery chain business in the North American and European markets.
Unlike in the U.S. where its Paris Baguette store was directly managed by the company, SPC opened a franchise store first in Canada. The food firm has been preparing to enter the Canadian market by accumulating franchise business know-how in the U.S. and establishing an overseas corporation in Canada.
"Canada is a strategically important market for Paris Baguette's global business as it is an Anglo-American market, which encompasses pan-French culture," SPC Group CEO Hur Jin-soo said. "The company will actively carry out its business activities in the world to target the global food market that is worth some $9 trillion."
According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation's 2022 major statistics on the food and beverage industry, the global food market is estimated at $8.81 trillion as of last year, 7.1 times bigger than that of the automobile industry and 4.5 times larger than that of the IT market.
Against this background, SPC has been expanding its Paris Baguette business into North America and European markets by opening two branches in the UK and three in France, last year. The bakery chain opened its 100th franchise store in the United States as of January.
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