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Walk into any Seoul neighborhood and you are never more than a block from a Korean bakery. The warm scent of butter, sweet red bean paste, and freshly steamed milk bread spills onto the sidewalk, drawing salarymen, students, and grandmothers alike. Korean bakery culture is far more than just bread, it is a daily ritual that blends French pastry techniques with distinctly Korean flavors like sesame, matcha, and pat (sweet red bean).
At the heart of this obsession sit two giants, Paris Baguette and Tous les Jours, whose pastel storefronts now stretch from Manhattan to Jakarta. Together they have built an empire that quietly redefined how the world thinks about Asian pastry, while smaller artisan shops at home are fueling a new wave of viral bread trends.
Paris Baguette and Tous les Jours, the Two Giants of Korean Bread
Paris Baguette, launched by SPC Group in 1988, and Tous les Jours, opened by CJ Foodville in 1997, dominate the South Korean bakery landscape with roughly 70 percent combined market share. According to KED Global, Paris Baguette operates around 3,420 stores nationwide while Tous les Jours runs 1,320 outlets, a density that no foreign rival has come close to matching.
Both chains adapted French boulangerie traditions to Korean palates, layering condensed milk, sweet red bean, green tea, and even kimchi into their creations. The result is a bakery experience that feels familiar to anyone raised on European pastry yet unmistakably Korean in flavor and softness.
Iconic Items: Soboro, Sweet Red Bean, and Garlic Bread
The Korean bakery case is a study in soft, sweet, and slightly savory contrasts. Soboro-ppang, a pillowy bun crowned with a crumbly peanut streusel, is a staple in every shop, often filled with red bean paste or custard. Danpat-ppang, the sweet red bean bun, traces its lineage to early 20th century baking traditions and remains a comfort food classic.
Then there is Korean style garlic bread, a polarizing creation slathered in garlic butter, cream cheese, and condensed milk that turns a simple baguette into dessert. Sausage bread, topped with corn mayo and mozzarella, and milky-soft castella round out the everyday lineup, alongside flaky croissants that have become an entry point for many Korean bakers experimenting with laminated dough.
The Viral Salt Bread (Sogeumppang) Trend
The latest Korean bakery obsession is sogeumppang, the salt bread that exploded across Seoul in the 2020s and peaked in popularity in 2025. Adapted from Japanese shio pan, the Korean version is a non-laminated milk bread rolled around a brick of butter that melts during baking, creating a crispy, hollow center and a tender, salt-flecked crust.
The Jayeondo Sogeumppang shop in Ikseon-dong became the flagship of the movement, using Canadian wheat and AOP-certified French butter to draw lines that snake down the alley. The trend has since spilled into the United States, with Eater and Food Republic both spotlighting Korea's signature take on the buttery roll.
Going Global: From New York to Jakarta
Korean bakeries are now an export industry. The Korea Times reported in December 2025 that SPC opened its 700th Paris Baguette overseas store inside Westfield London, with 240 stores in the United States and 340 in China leading the charge. SPC is targeting 12,000 global stores by 2030 and is investing 160 million dollars in a new Texas production plant.
Tous les Jours is not far behind. KED Global reports the chain operates 560 overseas outlets across nine countries, including 52 stores in Indonesia and a growing footprint in Vietnam, where CJ Foodville supplies croissants and egg tarts to retailers and serves 200,000 loaves a month to Garuda Indonesia airlines. A new flagship in Sunway Pyramid, Malaysia, opened in June 2025, signaling the brand's premium push across Southeast Asia.
K-Drama Bakery Scenes and the Cafe Pilgrimage
Paris Baguette became a recurring visual shorthand in Korean dramas, with the chain's pastel storefronts appearing in everyday scenes from office romances to late-night confessions. The fictional Danbam pub of Itaewon Class popularized the gritty backstreet cafe aesthetic, while Goblin sent fans hunting for cozy bakeries and dessert spots across Seoul and Incheon as part of K-drama location pilgrimages.
This drama exposure pairs with Korea's broader cafe culture, where bakeries double as workspaces, photo backdrops, and meeting points. The lines blur between bakery, cafe, and lifestyle destination, which is why a soboro bun in Seoul almost always comes with an Americano and a window seat.
Sungsimdang: The Daejeon Bakery Pilgrimage
Beyond the big chains, Korea is dotted with regional bakery legends. Sungsimdang in Daejeon, founded in 1956 as a tiny steamed bun shop, now produces nearly 400 varieties of handmade bread and refuses to open a single branch outside the city. Its signature twi-so, a deep-fried soboro bun stuffed with red bean paste, is the kind of dish people board the KTX just to taste.
The bakery has been featured in the Michelin Guide and routinely draws lines that stretch three blocks. For Korean food travelers, a day trip to Sungsimdang has become a rite of passage, proof that the country's bakery culture extends far beyond the franchise giants.
Where to Find Korean Bakeries Abroad
Outside Korea, the easiest entry point is a Paris Baguette or Tous les Jours storefront. Paris Baguette US runs locations in major cities from New York and Los Angeles to Houston, with new franchises rolling out across Texas and the Northeast. The brand's UK debut began in 2022 and now includes stores in Canary Wharf, Westfield London, and Portobello Road Market.
Tous les Jours operates more than 100 stores across the United States and Canada, with strongholds in California, New Jersey, and the Toronto metro area. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia hosts more than 50 Tous les Jours outlets across Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, and Denpasar, while Vietnam continues to be one of the chain's fastest growing markets.
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