Korean bakery that wants to make the croissants less French

Focus on the basement of every lively mall in Singapore and you are likely to smell the sweetness of fresh, oil cookies.

The long lines of humans are swarming the counters of Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese and Singapore bakeries – trays and clips in hand after choosing cream rollers and dairy bread or filled croissants and fruit cakes from crowded cabinets.

For Paris, his inspiration is clear in the name, the retail outlets are decorated and with the colors of the tricolor, the sign shows the Eiffel Tower, and it seems that the atmosphere is striving for something close to the charm of the Paris cafe.

But it’s 100% Korean.

“I would not limit our bread to everything from France. We are an international brand,” says Jin-su-Her, president and CEO of SPC Group, who owns Paris Baguet.

“Like Croissants, would you say it’s a European product? I would say it’s a universal product.”

SPC traces its roots back to a small family -run bakery store, which opened 80 years ago.

He is now a key player in mass production of bread and pastries in South Korea, with 20,000 people in all brands. SPC says its sales reached $ 5.6 billion (£ 4.26 billion) last year.

In 1988, Paris Baguet was born, becoming the first brand of the Korean bakery to open an international store in China, which continues to be a large market.

Today it has 4,000 stores in 14 countries, including Asia, Europe and the US.

Paris Bagett has large plans to expand overseas countries, setting a target of over 1000 new branches internationally by 2030 – many of them in the United States.

He invests in a factory in Texas, which will become its largest production facility abroad when it was completed in 2027, delivering the United States, Canada and Latin America.

For G -Her, catching the US market is a priority because it would mean that Paris Bagett has succeeded internationally.

Sport is central to the strategy of money baguette through partnership with the English Football Club in the Premier League Tottenham Hotspur.

He had a similar deal with France Paris St. Nerma for two seasons, providing his fans with roasted products and desserts in home games matches.

“I think food is a culture. Sports bring many people to the stadium and there are always good vibrations in London,” said G -N Herr.

The captain of South Korea’s national team was also captain of Spurs. Son Hen-Min led his team to win in the Europa League last month, finishing the 17-year waiting of the trophy club.

It’s not about Korean presenter spurs for G -N Herr.

Tottenham is a “top club, and Paris Bagett wants to be the best in class,” he says.

Workers do not like to wake up early to knead the dough by hand, says G -n Crore.

He credits the system of his company to deliver frozen franchise dough around the world to improve efficiency and extend the shelf life.

Asia has a strong heritage of cookies, but with rapid urbanization and change of lifestyle, the search for comfortable foods on the go is increasing steadily.

Bakeries throughout the region are already offering a huge variety of items.

Skoli like pain Au Chocolat and sandwiches are plentiful, but they are also known for Asia-inspired scents, Pandan, Durian, salted egg, croissants and sweets full of match.

Paris Bagett responds to demand through a certified Halal plant in Malaysia to deliver customers to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

With the charm of Korean culture worldwide, experts say that Asian bakeries may be able to see even more success.

Korean and Japanese culture is so popular around the world now that they may see things on their screen, and then they are ready to try it, said Saverio Busato, a chef of sweets and bakeries at America’s Culinary Institute in Singapore.

“I just returned from an excursion to Italy and I was quite surprised when I saw many Asian bakery and sweets in Italy and I was super happy.

To see the locals, the Italian people, that they are exploring. “

But can the frozen dough produce the same quality of goods as a craft bakery?

I put Chef Busato on a blind taste test. It is torn apart with frozen dough (although he does not know it), inspects the elasticity and smells it.

“It’s pretty bad. There’s no bee pie inside, it’s completely hollow. Laminating is not much power because the inside collapses. There is no oil profile. It’s glue and no smell,” he tells me.

Chef Busato admits that it is not practical to look for craft standards if you are producing cookies massively and therefore big players will have to rely on frozen dough.

However, what about traditional Asian cookies? The Busato chef when tasting Korean milk bread, fluffy white bread full of cream, said he thought it would do well in Europe.

“It’s fantastic. It’s very good. The smell of milk is approaching is nice. It’s fluffy. It’s refreshing … It reminds me of some breakfast when I was more jelly that I wore school.”

The life cost crisis is a major challenge for Paris Bagett-not last because of the US inflation, as it seeks to join the US market. Many companies have to change their business because it is not profitable for them, says G -N Hur.

One of the biggest competitors in Paris, a worldwide bagpipe-Pret Anger, should have experimented with subscription services and expand the dinner options after Covid pressed the sandwich and coffee chain and was forced to close dozens of retail outlets and cut more than 3000 jobs.

The global economic environment also weighs on G -N Hur, but insists that profit is not its sole purpose. “If we are just trying to win, we’ll just stay in Korea,” he says.

“We want to change the bread culture all over the world. I want to find a way to continue to open a lot of bakeries. It’s good for my country and for people.”