CJ's bakery franchise opens 1st outlet in Malaysia

SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- CJ Foodville Corp., the restaurant arm of food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, said Wednesday its bakery franchise Tous les Jours has opened its first outlet in Malaysia as part of its overseas expansion strategy.

In addition to the newly opened store in Kuala Lumpur, the company plans to open a second outlet in the capital later this month, it said in a press release.

In January, CJ Foodville signed a master franchise agreement with local retailer Stream Empire Holdings Sdn Bhd to expand its bakery operations in the Southeast Asian country.

Under a master franchise deal, the franchisor grants the franchisee the rights not only to open and operate outlets in a designated region but also to sub-franchise those rights to third parties.

Malaysia's bakery product market reached 4.4 trillion won (US$3.02 billion) in 2023 and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.19 percent through 2028, the company said.

The Tous les Jours brand currently operates about 560 outlets in nine countries, including the United States, Canada, Indonesia and Vietnam, and aims to accelerate its expansion across Southeast Asian markets this year.

In addition to its domestic operations, the company runs a bakery plant in Indonesia and is currently building another in Georgia, U.S., with operations scheduled to begin by the end of the year.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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