SPC Samlip partners with H Mart to grow U.S. bakery business

Korean bread producer SPC Samlip has partnered with U.S. supermarket chain H Mart to expand its business in the American bakery market. The two companies will work together to introduce private label bakery products to H Mart's stores.

SPC Group Executive Vice President Hur Hee-soo, left, and H Mart CEO Brian Kwon, pose for a photo after signing an MOU for a strategic business partnership between the two companies last Friday. [SPC SAMLIP]

SPC Samlip, a Korean bread producer, joined hands with H Mart, a U.S.-based Asian food supermarket chain, to expand its business in the vast American bakery market.

Under the agreement signed last week, SPC Samlip and H Mart will work together to plan private label (PB) bakery products and introduce them in H Marts, which are the largest Asian food distribution channel in the United States. Home meal replacement (HMR) items will also come to the stores in the future.

In addition, SPC Samlip will serve as a “strategic product supply partner” and provide products for new distribution channels that H Mart plans to establish overseas.

“This partnership agreement is a response to a common goal, shared by both companies, of introducing Korean bakery products to the American market amid the growing worldwide interest in Korean cuisine,” a SPC Samlip official said. “Through collaborations with major global distribution channels, we aim to further expand business in the American bakery market.”

SPC Samlip is a baked goods and food distributor under SPC Group. Its export product portfolio includes more than 250 items such — as yakgwa and hoppang, which it exports to 61 countries worldwide, including the United States, Australia and Hong Kong. SPC Group operates the Paris Baguette bakery chain, Shake Shack Burger and Eggslut restaurants in Korea.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]