Korean food franchises resume overseas push amid weak domestic demand, intensifying competition

Dining Brands Group CEO Song Ho-seop speaks at chicken franchise BHC's store in Toronto, Canada, on Oct. 21, 2024. [DINING BRANDS GROUP]

 
Korean food franchises are resuming their push into overseas markets as weakening domestic demand and intensifying competition at home drive companies to seek new growth. 
 
Well-known Korean coffee and chicken brands are leading the recent acceleration, following a slowdown in overseas expansion during the Covid-19 pandemic.
 

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Burger and chicken chain Mom’s Touch opened its first store in Vientiane, Laos, on March 27, the firm said on Friday. The move follows Mom's Touch's earlier entries into Japan and Thailand as the company diversifies its overseas business.
 
The company partnered with a Korea-linked Lao firm, Kolao Group, under a master franchise model, allowing a local operator to run the business.
 
Mom's Touch's overseas branches have supported earnings growth. The company posted sales of 479 billion won ($318 million) and operating profit of 89.7 billion won in 2025, up 14.6 percent and 22.2 percent from a year earlier. Overseas sales rose 70.6 percent over the same period.
 
“Buoyed by positive responses from local consumers, we plan to open a second store in a key commercial district in Vientiane next month," a company official said. "We aim to open 100 stores across 10 countries this year, including new entries into markets such as Uzbekistan in the first half.”
 

Customers wait in line to order at Mom's Touch's Shibuya branch in Tokyo on May 22, 2025. [YONHAP]

 
Budget coffee chain Compose Coffee also began a soft opening of its first Taipei store on Monday, with an official launch set for April 14. The company said the outlet has drawn strong demand, selling one drink every 20 seconds on average.
 
Some brands are expanding further in markets where they have already gained traction.
 
Chicken franchise BHC said its sixth U.S. store, which opened in Fort Lee, New Jersey, in February, is generating sales about 280 percent higher than the average of its existing U.S. franchise locations after opening.
 
BHC operates 43 stores in eight countries, including the United States, Thailand and Singapore. In the United States, it runs two directly managed stores and four franchise locations.
 
The franchise maintained the identity of Korean-style fried chicken while localizing the menu to reflect the local "dipping" culture, where customers dip chicken into sauces, said Brian Shin, head of BHC USA.
 
The localized menu has driven the shop's popularity, Shin said, adding that the company will build on momentum from the Fort Lee store to expand its presence in the United States.
 

Chicken franchise BHC's menu is displayed in front of a store in Seoul on May 28, 2025. [YONHAP]

 
The number of overseas outlets operated by Korean food franchises has increased steadily in recent years.
 
A total of 139 Korean brands operated 4,644 stores across 56 countries last year, according to a 2025 survey by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation.
 
The total fell to around 3,400 in 2021 from more than 4,000 before the Covid-19 pandemic, but rebounded to 3,685 in 2023 and 4,382 in 2024, surpassing the pre-pandemic level of 4,309 stores in 2019.
 
Industry players cite saturation in the domestic market as a key driver of the renewed overseas push, with companies citing limited growth opportunities at home.
 
The trend also reflects efforts to secure new growth engines by tapping into the rising global popularity of Korean food, fueled by broader interest in Korean culture.
 
Paik Jong-won, CEO of Theborn Korea and embattled celebrity restaurateur, said the company will expand overseas by leveraging its business-to-business (B2B) operations and introducing flagship brands to new global markets.
 
“We are conducting business exchanges with companies in North America, Southeast Asia and Europe based on our global B2B sauce business," he said at a shareholder meeting on Tuesday.
 
"This year, we plan to introduce one or two of our core brands into new overseas hubs and focus on expanding in global markets.”


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY NOH YU-RIM [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]