Korean bakeries selling fast in the United States
The popularity of Korean bakeries in the United States is reflective of the industry's growth in global markets.
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| Paris Baguette in Red Bank, New Jersey, the United States, is crowded with customers, December 2023. Courtesy of SPC |
Bakery products exported by the country are selling fast in the United States where major Korean bakery firms are expanding chains and fronting hundreds of different kinds of choices for breads, cakes and desserts to local consumers, according to the companies, Monday.
The popularity of Korean bakeries in the United States is reflective of the industry's growth in global markets last year across countries in Asia, Europe and Oceania. Korea Customs Service said Sunday that the export figure last year registered almost $2 billion, more than twice since 2013 when it was over $761 million.
The American bakery market claimed the highest portion of Korean bakery exports last year with 24 percent, a 36 percent increase compared to the previous year. China (18 percent), Japan (7 percent), Australia and the Netherlands (both 4 percent) followed in the export amount rank.
The biggest reason behind Korean bakeries attracting American consumers is the diverse range of items in each store that outstrip local bakery products in number.
"Items sold by local bakery firms in the United States are less than 100 on average," an official from SPC, which now operates over 150 Paris Baguette stores in the U.S. said. "Our brand offers more than 300 different kinds with popular picks including chocolate croissants, peanut cream bread and ‘Pain au Chocolat.’ Such a rich selection to choose from never fails to stimulate the eyes and noses of visitors to our stores."
CJ Foodville, which runs Tous les Jours in the United States, introduced almost 400 different bakery products at its local chains, according to its official.
"Fresh cream cakes, sweet red bean bread and sausage buns are among our hot-selling list," the official said. "Some people drove an hour to get to one of our local stores there and bagged almost 100 breads at once to put them in a freezer at home."
Allowing visitors to pick what they want using tongs and a tray and bring them to a cashier is a shopping method that clicked with local American consumers. They liked spending time inside the stores perusing the selection of bakery items on display before purchasing better than lining up and asking staff for what they wanted, according to the SPC official.
"They could check what each product contained by reading an ingredient description for each one," said the official. "It's a shopping method that never pressures them to hurry, a way to respect each consumer's gastronomic inclinations."
Now a hub of the American bakery market, the companies are targeting to expand their network of stores in Manhattan, New York City. SPC now runs 13 Paris Baguettes in the area including Times Square, Midtown and Upper West Side, while CJ Foodville opened its 100th Tous les Jours in New York City last August. They are now competing against Au Bon Pain, Panera Bread and Pret a Manger, a race the company chose as a challenge to expand its market in the area that a company official called the "center of the global economic and cultural industries."
(Source: Korea Times)
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