[K-Food Hidden Hero] Premiumization with Brand Expertise United in 'Chef's Hannkki'

② Paris Baguette Ready Meal 'First Class Kitchen'

Sales Volume Increased 5 Times in 3 Months
Enhanced with Dining Brand R&D Capabilities
30% Larger Portion than Market Standard
Targeting 3040 Age Group with Reasonable Prices

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Paris Baguette leveraged its dining business experience and research and development (R&D) strengths to launch its own premium home meal replacement (HMR) brand, ‘First Class Kitchen,’ featuring a Western-style ‘Western Meal’ product line. Within three months, the average daily sales volume grew nearly fivefold, receiving a warm response. Recently, the brand expanded consumer touchpoints by introducing a new ‘Asian Cuisine’ line specializing in Asian foods.

A Meal Made by Professional Chefs

‘First Class Kitchen’ is Paris Baguette’s unique home meal replacement product launched under the slogan ‘A Meal Made by Chefs,’ based on the bakery and dining R&D capabilities held by Paris Croissant, bringing together the strengths of the SPC Group brands.

Moon Jin-wook, manager of Paris Baguette’s HMR team in charge of product development, said on the 11th, "Paris Baguette collaborates not only with its product R&D department but also with professional chefs from the SPC Culinaire Academy to create products. From raw material procurement to the R&D department’s know-how and consumer pre-testing through social networking services (SNS), we pay close attention to every process, aiming to replicate a meal made by professional chefs in actual restaurants, which increased the likelihood of success from the development stage."

‘First Class Kitchen’ grew rapidly right after its launch. Within three months, the average daily sales volume increased fivefold. Currently, total sales have grown more than seven times compared to the launch. The main purchasing group consists of women in their 30s and 40s, who showed high purchases of bakery-type convenience foods. However, for main dish (meal) products, the purchase ratio of male consumers was higher. This growth is partly due to the increase in people wanting to have proper meals at home amid COVID-19, leading to increased consumption by men in addition to the existing main female consumer base, which is one of the key factors behind the growth of First Class Kitchen.

Consolidation of SPC Group Brand Operation Know-How

SPC Group’s operational expertise is embedded throughout the ‘First Class Kitchen’ products. Compared to typical HMR products on the market, the portion sizes were increased by 20-30%, and prices were set reasonably, made possible by SPC Group’s brand operation know-how and inter-brand collaboration.

Manager Moon said, "Based on the know-how accumulated from operating bakery brands such as Paris Baguette and Paris Croissant within SPC Group, the R&D capabilities of dining brands pursuing Western cuisine like La Griglia, Queen’s Park, and D’Queens were added. The combination of 75 years of accumulated food manufacturing expertise and dedication to quality management created a competitive edge."

‘First Class Kitchen’ consists of 19 items, including ‘Home Dining’ products representing main dishes and ‘Home Bakery’ products that can be enjoyed using an air fryer. Signature products include ‘Hamburg Steak Rice,’ ‘Authentic Jjajangmyeon,’ and ‘Mini Croissant,’ all born from collaboration between SPC Group’s bakery and dining brands.

Going forward, ‘First Class Kitchen’ plans to introduce products utilizing the operational know-how and experience of SPC Group’s own dining brands, such as the Italian casual restaurant brand ‘La Griglia’ and the Asian noodle & rice brand ‘StrEAT.’

Manager Moon stated, "We will continue to introduce various convenient meal products, including Western and Asian foods, so that consumers can easily experience diverse food cultures from around the world."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.