South Korean bakery chain Paris Baguette is turning to one of America’s best known television franchises as it tries to make the leap from an immigrant community favorite into a mainstream U.S. consumer brand.
Paris Baguette, owned by South Korean food company SPC Group, entered the U.S. in 2005 through Los Angeles’ Koreatown after intensifying competition in its home market pushed the company to seek growth overseas. It initially focused on Korean and other Asian consumers already familiar with the brand before expanding into major commercial markets including New York, New Jersey and San Francisco. Two decades later, the company has built a network of more than 300 cafés across North America and is pursuing a goal of 1,000 locations by 2030.
That expansion is now becoming a more distinctly American operation. SPC is building Paris Baguette’s first North American production facility in Burleson, Texas, a project valued at more than $200 million that is expected to create about 450 jobs and supply dough and other products to cafés across the continent. With stores and production capacity moving closer to U.S. customers, the next challenge is getting more of those customers to recognize the name. The partnership with Dancing with the Stars gives Paris Baguette a national entertainment platform to do exactly that.
Disney Advertising and Paris Baguette announced the partnership on Sept. 11, making the bakery chain an official partner of Season 35 of Dancing with the Stars, the celebrity ballroom competition that has aired on ABC since 2005 and now also streams on Disney+. The new season premieres Sept. 15 and Sept. 16.
Paris Baguette will appear throughout the season through advertising during live broadcasts, customized video content and other promotions connected with the show. The company is also using its cafés to extend the television partnership into an in store marketing campaign.
Beginning Sept. 14, Paris Baguette locations across the U.S. are offering two limited edition beverages inspired by the show’s Mirrorball Trophy, the Mirrorball Iced Croissant Latte and the Mirrorball Iced Croissant Matcha. Both come with Dancing with the Stars themed packaging.
The company will follow that promotion with a buy one, get one offer for rewards members on National Dance Day on Sept. 19. Selected cafés in New York and Los Angeles will also distribute limited edition cups while supplies last. Beginning Oct. 1, customers can enter a sweepstakes for a trip to Los Angeles that includes tickets to the Season 35 finale, airfare and hotel accommodations.
The Disney agreement represents a change in how Paris Baguette is trying to introduce itself outside its traditional customer base. Its previous international marketing partnerships were concentrated largely in soccer, including deals with Paris Saint Germain, Tottenham Hotspur and Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC.
Paris Baguette has also used LAFC stars Son Heung min and Denis Bouanga in product marketing. Those partnerships gave the company access to established sports audiences. Dancing with the Stars broadens that strategy by putting the brand in front of a general entertainment audience on ABC and Disney+.
The timing reflects how Paris Baguette’s U.S. ambitions have changed since its Koreatown beginnings. The company is no longer simply importing a Korean bakery concept and opening stores around communities already familiar with it. It is investing in American production, recruiting franchise operators across the country and trying to build the brand recognition needed to support a much larger national footprint.
That also explains why a partnership with Disney matters more to Paris Baguette now than it would have during its earlier years in the U.S. Adding hundreds of cafés requires more than real estate and supply capacity. It requires Americans who have never encountered the chain to know what Paris Baguette is before a new location arrives in their neighborhood.
The company has already moved into airports, opening its first U.S. airport café at Philadelphia International Airport, while continuing to expand in markets across the country. Its Texas production facility is intended to strengthen the supply chain needed to support that growth and reduce reliance on dough shipped from Asia.
Cathy Chavanet, chief marketing officer of Paris Baguette North America, said the company sees a connection between dance and the precision and creativity involved in preparing pastries and beverages. The partnership, she said, is intended to bring the two audiences together.
For Paris Baguette, however, the larger objective extends well beyond themed drinks and television advertising. After spending two decades building an American store network, the South Korean chain is now trying to make its name as recognizable as the physical footprint it wants to build.
