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SPC wrapping up talks on $160M Texas factory for Paris Baguette products

Published: 02 Jan. 2025, 13:03 Updated: 02 Jan. 2025, 18:40

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

Bakery chain Paris Baguette's locations in the United States and Canada [SPC]

SPC Group, the operator behind bakery chain Paris Baguette, is in the final stages of talks to construct a $160 million factory in Johnson County, Texas, that will produce bread for its North American and future Central and South American branches.

The factory will span 150,000 square meters (1.6 million square feet) to be its largest overseas plant yet, the group said Thursday. SPC said the facility could also possibly produce confectionary affiliate SPC Samlip’s overseas goods, hinting at further expansion for the food and beverage maker.

SPC said it was hammering out the last details for state government investment and support with Texas authorities that will finish by the end of January at the earliest. Johnson County and the City of Burleson will spend around $10 million to secure the deal.

The factory will produce bread for Paris Baguette stores in the United States and Canada, where SPC is actively pursuing expansion, and for shops that SPC plans to launch in Central and South America. The bakery giant plans to launch a minimum of 1,000 branches in North America by 2030.

Texas' position in the central United States makes it easy to transport goods to U.S. locations across the country and to Canada and Central America, SPC said. The state also has a business-friendly environment that has more favorable tax laws, government incentives to locate there and a labor market with a lower minimum wage and cost of livinㅇg.

“We are considering using local facilities in the United States to gauge market response and implement localization strategies by cooperating with the group,” SPC Samlip said in SPC’s news release.

The confectionary producer said it ramped up export efforts in the United States and Japan last year to achieve more than 30 percent on-year growth for 2024, and recently said it had developed a rice cake that can be consumed in cereal form after the trend became popular on social media.

"We decided to construct a factory in the United States to ensure smooth production and better quality for our products as we grow our business in the North American market," SPC said.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]