"Korean consumers strongly prefer European bakery products, particularly from France, but we're confident Samyang's frozen dough quality matches or exceeds European standards."
At Samyang Corp.'s Incheon Plant 2 in Jung-gu, Incheon, visited on the 7th, the rich aroma of butter grew stronger near the recently completed frozen dough production line. Inside the plant, the "lamination" process was in full swing, with massive rollers repeatedly folding and pressing dough along the conveyor belt. The product made that day was pastry dough — with each pass through the rollers, thin layers emerged in the dough's cross-section. After three rounds of lamination, 24 delicate pastry layers were packed into dough just 4.5 millimeters thick.
Yang Cheol-ho, head of the Food Ingredient Distribution BU who oversees the frozen dough business, said, "Frozen dough quality depends heavily on fine-tuned variables such as ingredients, blending ratios, and temperature and humidity at each stage of the process." He added, "Based on the latest automated facilities and manufacturing know-how, Samyang will set the quality standard for frozen dough in Korea."
Samyang Corp. has designated frozen dough as a new business and is accelerating efforts to gain early market leadership. The company's strategy is to differentiate itself by combining its existing competitiveness in basic ingredients such as flour and sugar with process experience accumulated through a pilot plant. To this end, the company invested 30.8 billion won in February to build a new frozen dough production facility of about 1,600 pyeong (roughly 5,289 square meters) on the fourth floor of the Incheon Plant 2 logistics center. Annual production capacity stands at 5,000 tons — more than four times that of the previous pilot plant.
The new plant's core feature is automating bread-making processes traditionally considered the domain of human craftsmanship. The expansion enables production of not only Ready To Prove (RTP) dough — completed through the pre-fermentation shaping stage — but also Ready To Bake (RTB) dough that has completed fermentation. The frozen dough products are mainly supplied through B2B channels to bakery cafes and corporate clients. Notably, RTB dough, which can be baked right after thawing, cuts cooking time by about 70% compared with making dough from scratch, significantly boosting store operating efficiency.
"There is virtually no other company in the world that has built an automated frozen dough production system like this," Yang said. "People tend to assume factory-made bread dough can't match the human touch, but automation actually delivers consistent quality without human error."
Behind Samyang's push into frozen dough lies the market's strong growth potential. Korea's frozen dough market is currently valued at about 990 billion won and is projected to expand to 1.3 trillion won by 2030. With cafes and bakeries facing growing shortages of skilled bakers and rising labor costs, alongside increasing demand for premium bakery items such as croissants and pastries, demand for high-quality frozen dough is rapidly rising.
Samyang recognized the market's growth potential early on, partnering with global frozen bakery leader Aryzta in 2017 to begin exclusive domestic distribution. The existing pilot plant has been running at capacity for the past three years due to robust demand. The expansion is expected to drive about 60% year-on-year growth in Samyang's frozen dough revenue. Late last year, the company launched its own frozen dough brand, "Prepang," currently selling 28 products across three categories: sheets, croissants and pies.
Samyang aims to raise its market share from the current 5% to 15% within two years, establishing itself as a market leader. Beyond its B2B-focused business, the company plans to accelerate its push into the B2C market by expanding small-package products and online channels. Overseas exports to Japan and the U.S. are also on the agenda. "We are first reviewing entry into the Japanese market, and we expect full-scale exports to begin early next year," Yang said. "We're also participating in SIAL Paris, the world's largest food trade show, this year, with an eye on eventually exporting back to Europe over the long term."
