SPC Group President Hur Jin-soo, front row third from left, and Diana Miller, front row second from left, executive director of Johnson County's Economic Development Commission, pose with other dignitaries during a signing ceremony in Texas, Jan. 27, marking the construction of SPC's new manufacturing plant in Burleson, Texas. Courtesy of SPC

Bakery giant SPC Group will build a large-scale manufacturing plant in Texas, with construction set to begin this summer and completion expected in 2027, the Korean food conglomerate said Monday.

SPC, which runs the signature bakery brand Paris Baguette and 198 stores across the United States as of January, anticipates that the new plant will serve as a linchpin for supplying its bakery products across countries in North and Central America.

The facility will be built on a 150,000-square-meter site in Burleson, Texas, located in Johnson County. It will employ 450 local workers, making SPC one of the county's top five employers, according to the company.

The announcement follows a signing ceremony on Jan. 27 at the Johnson County District Court, where SPC President and Paris Baguette CEO Hur Jin-soo and Diana Miller, executive director of the Johnson County Economic Development Commission, finalized the plant construction bid.

SPC Chairman Hur Young-in, the father of SPC president Hur Jin-soo, first visited the U.S. on Jan. 20 and met officials of Paris Baguette America, the conglomerate's U.S. subsidiary, to oversee financing plans for the new manufacturing site. The chairman also attended the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington.

"The idea of a new Texas plant started with Chairman Hur's mission to further boost the conglomerate's global businesses," an SPC official said.

"The plan accelerated further as the new Trump administration is expected to shift the global market greatly, including new tariffs to be levied on imports to the U.S."

SPC is investing $160 million in the plant's construction. The governments of Burleson and Johnson County are contributing $10 million to the project, while Texas state authorities have agreed to provide tax benefits to SPC. In total, U.S. authorities are providing approximately $14 million in support, according to the conglomerate.

The new plant will facilitate SPC's plan to run 1,000 Paris Baguette stores across the U.S. and Canada by 2030. This year, the conglomerate aims to see the brand's stores in 35 U.S. states, from the current 29, and launch 100 additional Paris Baguette shops in the country.

SPC's business in North America has been on the rise in recent years. It logged 381 billion won ($259 million) in sales in 2023, up from 353 billion won in 2022 and 183 billion won in 2021. Paris Baguette stores in the region also increased in number to 209 as of January, from 94 in 2021.