In the United States, K-bakery is moving beyond Korean and Asian customers and becoming part of local consumers' everyday lives. CJ Foodville's Tous les Jours is expanding its reach among mainstream customers by emphasizing Korean-style products and operations.
On the 14th local time, at the Tous les Jours La Habra store in La Habra, California, families were seen enjoying bread and drinks both inside and outside the shop. Some customers were also spotted spending time at outdoor tables with laptops open.
The customer mix at the La Habra store closely reflects the local population. Ahn Seung-jun, head of CJ Foodville's global business division and CEO of its U.S. unit, said, "Latinos account for 60%, whites for 25% to 30%, and Asians are below 10%." He explained that the customer base is formed in proportion to the area's demographics.
This trend also appeared in a survey. In CJ Group's "Global K-culture Influence Analysis," conducted in December last year among 7,100 men and women aged 15 to 49 across 24 cities in 12 countries, including the U.S. (1,000 respondents in the U.S.), the rate of U.S. consumers with experience eating at Korean restaurants was 57%. The average monthly frequency of K-food consumption in U.S. households was 3.38 times, above the 12-country average of 2.8.
Rather than stripping away its Korean identity, Tous les Jours has chosen "K-ness" as a differentiating factor. The strategy is to keep its identity as a bakery that blends Korean and French sensibilities while targeting the mainstream market.
Ofelia Kumpf, COO of CJ Foodville USA, said, "Our growth plan is to maintain the strength of being a Korean-French bakery while actively highlighting 'K-ness.'" She added, "We have confirmed that our products have broad mass appeal beyond Asian and Korean customers."
Ahn also emphasized, "In the U.S. as well, we are treating K-ness as a distinct competitive advantage," and added that "appealing to customers with that is one of our key strategies."
Localization has not focused on making the products taste more American. Even when locally sourced ingredients are used, the key is to recreate the same taste as the products sold in Korea.
Ahn explained, "In baking, even a slight difference in flour can significantly change the taste of bread." He added, "Localization is not about changing the taste of the bread, but about recreating the same flavor with different ingredients and materials." Instead, the company has adapted service and operations to local preferences, strengthening hospitality and incorporating local know-how into franchise standardization.
The La Habra store, which opened in July last year, covers about 320.5 square meters and has 80 seats. It was the first in North America to adopt the new brand identity, and it also serves as a test bed for gauging local consumer response before new products are launched.
Inside the store, it was easy to find products sold in Korea, such as salt bread, rich milk cream bread, twisted doughnuts, and kimchi croquettes. The shop uses a product lineup and display format that are almost identical to those in Korea, while promoting a "total bakery" concept where customers can choose from a wide variety of freshly baked goods in one place.
Products with a distinctly Korean character, such as kimchi croquettes and twisted doughnuts, are also popular. The signature "Cloud Cake" stands out in the U.S. market, where butter cakes are more familiar, with the soft taste of fresh cream. Ahn said, "Local customers describe Tous les Jours cakes as 'cloudy,'" adding that "they are willing to pay more than the mass-produced cakes sold at ordinary grocery stores."
Products that had already proven successful in Korea were also brought to the U.S. The three fruit-shaped "Aegjak Cake" varieties sold at the CJ CheilJedang Center store, the flagship Tous les Jours location in Korea, began selling in the U.S. on the 13th local time. In the U.S., they were introduced as "I'm Not Peach. Cake.", "I'm Not Mango. Cake.", and "I'm Not Pistachio. Cake."
The way customers buy products is also different from local bakeries. In the U.S., it is common for staff to retrieve items after a customer orders at the counter, but at Tous les Jours, customers walk around the store and place the bread they want directly on their trays.
Ahn cited local bakery brands such as Panera Bread and Corner Bakery and said this operating model is also a competitive advantage. He said, "The structure, where customers pick up items one by one as if they were shopping, seems to have felt fresh to local customers," adding that "the differences in operations and products are competitive factors."
The business has also grown quickly in the U.S. CJ Foodville entered the U.S. in 2004 and, as of June this year, operates 205 Tous les Jours stores across North America. Its U.S. unit has remained profitable for eight consecutive years since 2018, and revenue rose from 51 billion won in 2021 to 194.6 billion won last year. More than 90% of U.S. stores are franchised, and more than half are run by multi-unit franchisees. At the end of last year, the company also began operating a plant in Gainesville, Georgia, capable of producing more than 100 million frozen dough products and cakes a year.
Even as the business has expanded, its direction in the U.S. market remains the same. Rather than stripping away Korean elements to fit local tastes, the company aims to turn them into Tous les Jours' own competitive edge.
Ahn said, "The delicacy, diverse flavors, and creativity of K-bakery are serving as differentiating factors in the local market."
La Habra, U.S. = Reporter Moon Ji-yeon, lunamoon@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
