While the Covid-19 pandemic has depressed the performance of many businesses, the opposite is true for South Korean food company SPC Group, which has expanded its overseas business in recent months.
Last month, SPC Group – owner of the country’s biggest bakery brand, Paris Baguette – announced that it would launch the brand in Canada. It will be the seventh country the company has entered.
The Covid-19 pandemic means it will take longer than usual to find partner firms and conduct market research, according to the food giant, but it is overcoming those difficulties through different strategies, it said.
SPC Group has been seeking a foothold in the Americas, and is tapping into the Canadian market after making efforts to expand its business in the US.
In Asia, the company established a joint venture last year with Huot Sroeng Group Co Ltd (HSG) for an entry to Cambodia.
The Kingdom became the third country in Southeast Asia behind Vietnam and Singapore where the company has entered.
It said in a press release: “The food and beverage market is growing fast here in Cambodia, and we expect to create synergy with two neighbouring countries, Vietnam and Singapore.
“We will do our best to make Paris Baguette a top bakery brand in Cambodia, with the help of its brand and product quality,” it said, announcing plans to import its other brands and develop production infrastructure in the Kingdom.
In the same year, the company ploughed 40 billion won ($33.2 million) into the construction of a factory in China to serve the local market.
Thanks to all these efforts, the company’s overseas sales last year reached 422.2 billion won – about 20 per cent of the total sales of the affiliated Paris Croissant Co Ltd, the operator of Paris Baguette.
SPC Group currently operates about 400 Paris Baguette stores in overseas markets including the US, France, Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Including its stores in South Korea, the company has 4,000 bakeries around the globe.
THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK