India's love for Korean pizza spurs Gopizza’s global business

South Korea’s Gopizza Inc. opened its 50th branch in India, the world’s most populous country, as the food tech startup aims to attract more global customers with its personal-sized pizzas baked with K-food ingredients.

Gopizza said on Wednesday it launched the outlet, its 200th overseas restaurant, in Koramangala, Bengaluru, an area popular among young tech workers and students.

The restaurant offers not only Indian-toppings pizza such as "Tandoori Paneer" but also South Korean-style offerings including "Buldak Volcano" and "Gangnam Bulgogi."

“The 50th store is an important milestone indicating our determination for long-term growth in India, one of the most rapidly growing markets,” said Gopizza founder and Global CEO Lim Jae Won, who started the business with a food truck in Seoul in 2016. “We will keep expanding the global business to open the 100th branch in India and more than 500 worldwide this year.”

The South Korean startup, which opened its first overseas outlet in Bengaluru in 2019, has been extending its presence in Asia’s third-largest economy despite tough conditions such as COVID-19.

Its India sales more than doubled in 2023 from the previous year.

Gopizza also has branches in seven countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

The company has developed an artificial intelligence oven that can bake six to eight personal-sized pizzas in three minutes at the same time.

Write to Hyung-Chang Choi at calling@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.