Despite the rainy weather, visitors are lining up to purchase bread in front of the Seongsimdang main store, a representative attraction of Daejeon. Photo by Huh Younghan

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According to the electronic disclosure system on April 16, Rosso, the operator of Seongsimdang, a famous bakery in Daejeon, recently announced in its audit report that it recorded revenue of 262.9 billion won last year. Sales increased 318% in five years, rising from 62.9 billion won in 2021. Operating profit more than doubled from 1.7 billion won in 2021 to 3.7 billion won last year. In 2023, Seongsimdang became the first single bakery brand to surpass 100 billion won in annual sales without franchising, and has continued to show steady growth since. Seongsimdang, marking its 70th anniversary this year, operates over 10 stores in Daejeon alone, including its main store in Jung-gu, Daejeon.

At Seongsimdang, a representative landmark of Daejeon, customers are choosing bread. Photo by Hur Younghan

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Riding the bakery pilgrimage boom, bakeries in other regions have also seen a sharp increase in revenue. Isungdang, a famous bakery in Gunsan, saw its annual sales grow by 37%, from 21.7 billion won in 2021 to 29.8 billion won last year. Isungdang, with 81 years of history, currently operates both its main and annex stores in downtown Gunsan. Ddujuru Confectionery in Cheonan, known for Turtle Bread and Stone Oven Manju, and Ops in Busan, famous for Myeongran Baguette and Hagwonjeon, have also shown rapid sales growth in the past five years. Ddujuru Development, which operates Ddujuru Confectionery, saw its sales surge nearly fourfold from 8.8 billion won in 2021 to 31.5 billion won last year, and Ops experienced a 23.5% increase in sales over the same period.

Seongdang Website

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Tujuru is run by a red bean artisan with 20 years of experience who cooks 100% domestically sourced red beans daily. Tujuru Homepage

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Ops currently hosting an Instagram review event. Ops homepage

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Seongsimdang, Ops, and Isungdang are all bakery manufacturers that produce their own bread using ingredients such as flour, rice flour, and sweet bean paste. Seongsimdang, in particular, operates on a scale comparable to large corporations. According to FIS Food Industry Statistics Information, Seongsimdang ranked fourth in 2024 among bakery manufacturers by sales. Considering that Paris Croissant, Shany, and SPL-all part of the Sammi Dang Holdings group-held the top three spots, Seongsimdang competes shoulder to shoulder with major corporations. Notably, in terms of operating profit, Seongsimdang outperformed all conglomerates in 2024, claiming first place with 47.8 billion won, far surpassing second-place Paris Croissant (22.3 billion won). Ops also ranked 15th for revenue and 9th for operating profit among bakery manufacturers in 2024.

The reason why local bakeries across the country were able to grow bigger is that from the mid-2010s, the behavior of young people touring bakeries nationwide became a kind of cultural phenomenon and travel trend. In particular, experiential consumption spread in connection with social media certification culture, and a kind of pilgrimage culture to collect stamps took hold. Regional bakeries also responded flexibly by not only sticking to signature menus such as cream bread and red bean bread but also releasing new menu items aligned with trends and actively communicating through social media.

Last year, Professor Seungryul Moon of Chosun University, who studied the marketing strategies of Seongsimdang and Seongseongdang, analyzed that the competitiveness of the two bakeries came from their strong bond with the region based on tradition, maintaining high product quality while actively utilizing online channels at the same time.

Isungdang was founded in 1945, Seongsimdang in 1956, Ops in 1989, and Ddujuru in 1992-each with at least 30 years of history. Isungdang describes itself as "the oldest bakery in Korea." Notably, Seongsimdang is based in Daejeon and Ddujuru in Cheonan, both famous for not opening stores outside their home regions. Even when Seongsimdang operated a pop-up store at Culture Station Seoul 284 in Jung-gu, Seoul in 2024, it did not sell bread there, maintaining its policy of only selling its bread in Daejeon. Isungdang and Ops, while having their main stores and some locations near the capital area, also operate all their stores directly.

This trend has translated into tangible expansion of the local economy. Over the past five years, employment at local bakeries has increased significantly. Seongsimdang's workforce more than doubled from 476 in 2021 to 1,000 employees last year. As a result, Seongsimdang's labor-related costs (wages, retirement benefits, workforce development expenses, employee welfare expenses) rose 175% over the same period, from 11 billion won to 30.3 billion won. In 2024, plans to build an on-site daycare center for Seongsimdang employees were also announced. Isungdang's staff grew from 68 to 191 over five years, Ops from 193 to 196, and Ddujuru's workforce more than tripled to 277 during the same period.

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The number of visitors and tourist spending in these regions has also increased. According to Korea Tourism Data Lab, Jung-gu in Daejeon, home to Seongsimdang's main store, saw the number of outside visitors rise by 50% last year compared to 2021. According to Tmap Mobility, Seongsimdang's main store jumped from 129th to 84th in the annual top 1,000 destinations last year, and Isungdang's main store climbed from 536th to 443rd. As more visitors flocked to Seongsimdang, "bread taxis"-taxis equipped with folding tables and cooler bags-have even appeared in Daejeon. In other regions, such as Gunsan in North Jeolla Province (home to Isungdang), Dongnam-gu in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province (where Ddujuru's Stone Oven Manju Village is located), and Haeundae-gu in Busan (home to a popular Ops store), the number of outside visitors has increased by more than 20% over the past five years.

Card spending in the confectionery and beverage sector-a proxy for tourism spending-also jumped: In Jung-gu, Daejeon, total card payments reached 70.3 billion won over five years, a 370% increase. During the same period, North Jeolla Province's Gunsan rose 52%, Dongnam-gu in Cheonan 44%, and Haeundae-gu in Busan 43%.

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Local governments are also capitalizing on the bakery pilgrimage trend by hosting bakery festivals. Since 2021, Daejeon City has held an annual bakery festival, with the number of participating bakeries growing from around 30 initially to 102 last year. According to KORAIL Daejeon-Chungnam Headquarters, during the past three years, the number of passengers using KTX at Daejeon Station during the bakery festival period increased by 1.2 times compared to the weekend average. Cheonan City is also holding two bakery festivals a year featuring local bakeries.