KUALA LUMPUR (June 20): Berjaya Food Bhd (BFood) said on Monday that its 50:50 joint venture (JV) with Paris Baguette Singapore plans to open the first Paris Baguette outlet in the Klang Valley by the end of 2022.

According to BFood chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Sydney Lawrance Quays, the JV — that was announced on Monday — targets to open five Paris Baguette outlets in Malaysia in a year.

Under the JV agreement, BFood — that has a 50% ownership in the venture — will be the principal operator of Paris Baguette outlets in Malaysia, according to Quays.

"It (the first store) will be in Kuala Lumpur. We are not at liberty to say where it is because we are still in talks. But generally, we will be looking at bigger and more established malls," Quay said.

He was speaking at a press conference at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel on Monday in conjunction with the JV signing ceremony.

According to a separate statement, Paris Baguette is a French-inspired bakery brand operated by South Korea-based SPC Group and is the number one bakery chain in South Korea.

It noted that the brand owns over 4,000 units globally including 3,400 stores in South Korea and more than 440 locations across the US, China, France, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Singapore. It added that Malaysia is its eighth international market in the world.

According to the statement, SPC Group has begun the initial stages of building its regional manufacturing and distribution centre named SPC Centre in Johor in its target to obtain halal certification for this centre to cater its business to the Southeast Asia (SEA) and the Middle East markets.

"As we look at setting out the facility in SEA, it is clear to us that our market is the Muslim market… of course we want to get the best halal certification. And we recognise that the Malaysian JAKIM halal certification is one of the renowned and best within the region.

"We want to make sure the certification is recognised within the Middle East and SEA. We also want to make sure the facility is quite near to Singapore so that it is convenient for us," said Paris Baguette SEA chief executive officer Hana Lee.

As for BFood, it said the strategic partnership is part of BFood's broader retail push to be a more inclusive food and beverage group on the Main Market of Bursa.

When asked about the pricing strategy of the products, Quay responded that the retail price will be managed to make it affordable for every consumer.

At noon break, BFood's share price traded five sen or 1.21% higher at RM4.18, bringing the group a market capitalisation of RM1.63 billion.