Paris Baguette's family bet billions on taking its Korean bakery global

SPC Group is the Korean food group behind Paris Baguette, a French-styled bakery chain, owned through Paris Croissant, the family's de facto holding arm, alongside listed food maker SPC Samlip.

That the world would pay for a Korean take on French bakery — red-bean buns, hot-dog pastries, Eiffel Tower logos — at a scale of 20,000 outlets by 2030.

Hur Young-in learned baking at the American Institute of Baking in Kansas, founded Paris Croissant in 1986 and Paris Baguette in 1988; the global push began with a Shanghai store in 2004, Los Angeles in 2005 and New York in 2013.

SPC grew to 6,000 locations globally, even opening in Paris itself. The cost showed in the numbers: group net income slumped 77 percent from its 2016 high of ₩85.2 billion to ₩19.2 billion in 2019, partly on overseas investment losses, and SPC Samlip shares slid 84 percent from their 2015 peak. Covid-19 cut Q1 2020 revenue 16 percent from the previous quarter.

Undaunted, SPC announced in June 2020 it would venture into Canada, with Hur targeting 20,000 outlets worldwide by 2030; about one-fifth of Paris Croissant's revenue already came from overseas Paris Baguette outlets.

Opening in Paris — the city on the sign — was brand theatre: proof the French costume was credible, priced as a marketing expense.

The domestic regulatory ceiling on new bakery openings left overseas growth as the only channel for the group's expansion.

Family control (Paris Croissant as holding arm, 74 percent of SPC Samlip) let the bet absorb losses that would have forced a listed company to retreat.

Franchise-style imports (Baskin-Robbins, Dunkin' Donuts, Shake Shack) gave SPC a playbook for running foreign brands — Paris Baguette ran it in reverse.

Prestige expansion proves the brand before it pays for it: a store in Paris is marketing, not revenue, and the family's control is what lets losses run that long.

As of July 2020, about one-fifth of Paris Croissant's revenue came from overseas Paris Baguette outlets, SPC had announced its Canada entry despite Covid, and Hur was holding to the 20,000-outlet-by-2030 target while group net income ran at roughly a quarter of its 2016 peak.