While the COVID-19 pandemic has depressed the performance of many businesses, the opposite is true for South Korean food company SPC Group, which has expanded its overseas business in recent months.

In June, SPC Group -- owner of the country’s biggest bakery brand, Paris Baguette -- announced that it would launch the brand in Canada. It will be the seventh country the company has entered.

The COVID-19 pandemic means it will take longer than usual to find partner firms and conduct market research, according to the food giant, but it is overcoming those difficulties through different strategies, it said.

SPC has been seeking a foothold in the Americas, and is tapping into the Canadian market after making efforts to expand its business in the US.

In Asia, the company established a joint venture in 2019 for an entry to Cambodia.

In the same year, the company plowed 40 billion won ($33.3 million) into the construction of a factory in China to serve the local market.

Thanks to all these efforts, the company’s overseas sales in 2019 reached 422.2 billion won ($351.48 million) -- about 20 percent of the total sales of the affiliated Paris Croissant Food Company, the operator of Paris Baguette.

SPC Group currently operates about 400 Paris Baguette stores in overseas markets including the US, France, Singapore and Vietnam.

Including its stores in Korea, the company has 4,000 bakeries around the globe.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)