Paris Baguette enters Malaysia, eyes $2 trillion halal market 

SPC Group’s bakery franchise Paris Baguette has chosen Malaysia as its eighth overseas market. The decision aligns with the food and beverage behemoth’s goal of tapping into the $2 trillion global halal market.

The group announced on Monday that it plans to build a factory that manufacturers halal-certified foodstuffs in the country’s second-largest city of Johor Bahru. The capital of the Johor state is located across the Johor Strait from neighboring Singapore. 

The Nusajaya Tech Park, where the factory will be built, is a logistics gateway to Southeast Asia and the Middle East. 

The food giant will inject some 40 billion won ($31 million) into building the factory that will span 16,500 square meters in lot area and 12,900 square meters in gross floor area. 

The construction’s projected start date is next June. 

The plant will be able to produce some 100 items including breads, cakes, and sauces, serving not only existing markets in Southeast Asia but also future markets in the Middle East. 

The latest investment was led by Hur Jin-Soo, the newly appointed CEO of the group's Paris Baguette business. He is the eldest son of the conglomerate's chairman Hur Yong-in. 

The junior Hur stressed that the food manufacturer will "continue to expand its global portfolio through aggressive investment." 

JOINT VENTURE

In related news, Paris Baguette Singapore has inked a joint venture agreement with Malaysia’s Berjaya Food and plans to open its first location in Kuala Lumpur this year. 

Berjaya will have 50% ownership.

The SPC Group first entered the Southeast Asian market in 2012 with a store in Vietnam. It is currently present in a number of markets there; including Singapore, Cambodia and Indonesia. 

Over in the United States, the conglomerate has opened more than 100 locations and ranked the 38th biggest US-based franchise this year on the top 400 list.

Earlier this month, the conglomerate acquired French casual coffeehouse chain Lina’s Développement.

The acquisition came after the SPC brought the French bakery café into South Korea 20 years ago under a master franchise agreement. 

Write to Soo-Jung Ha at agatha77@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.