The Born Korea pushes into North America with Canadian hotel deal, US sauce production plans

The Born Korea said Tuesday that CEO Baek Jong-won, who has been on a North America business trip since Aug. 2, signed an MOU with Canadian hotel and real estate company Sunray Group for food and beverage business cooperation. Baek also held talks with local food retail companies on expanding the sales and distribution network for TBK sauces.

Sunray Group operates about 80 hotels in Canada under global brands including Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt. The two companies agreed to convert a store Sunray Group currently operates in Markham, in the Greater Toronto Area, into a The Born Korea dining brand. They are also reviewing plans to introduce additional The Born Korea brands at hotels and commercial facilities owned by Sunray Group, starting with the Markham project.

During the Canada leg of his trip, Baek met with executives from two major food retail companies to pitch local distribution expansion for The Born Korea products, including TBK sauces. With a leading Korean-Canadian food retail company, he discussed plans for a dedicated The Born Korea product showcase inside its stores, a food court pop-up, and menu development using TBK sauces at company-run restaurants. The Born Korea is also reviewing ways to expand TBK sauce sales through restaurant distribution networks.

Talks with another major Canadian food retail company focused on broadening local distribution and sales of TBK sauces, with plans to expand the product lineup depending on sales performance and consumer response. The Born Korea aims to move beyond B2B sauces for restaurant clients and build a retail consumer base in Canada by making TBK sauces available for direct purchase by local shoppers.

In the United States, The Born Korea is pursuing local production of B2B sauces for its Hong Kong Banjum brand in partnership with a global food company, with sweet-and-sour pork sauce set as the first item to be manufactured. The company plans to broaden production to cover other key sauces used across its dining brand menus and supply them locally.

The Born Korea intends to use the partner company's US production facilities as a supply hub for North America market expansion. Manufacturing locally will cut logistics costs and lead times while building a supply chain capable of supporting store expansion and retail distribution in both the United States and Canada. The two sides will also jointly develop home meal replacement products targeting North American consumers.

"Business opportunities that CEO Baek Jong-won has identified firsthand on the ground overseas are translating into concrete partnerships with local companies," a The Born Korea official said. "By combining The Born Korea's brand and product development capabilities with local partners' production and distribution networks, we will expand our business results across the full chain — from opening dining brand locations to product manufacturing and retail distribution."