Korean Food Firms Prune Brands as Per-Store Profit Becomes the Yardstick

South Korea's major restaurant and food manufacturers have cut at least five franchise and subsidiary brands in the past 18 months, channeling capital into higher-margin core operations as per-store profitability overtakes network expansion as the sector's defining metric.

Why are the chains cutting brands?

The retreat reflects a wider recalculation across the industry. From 2021 to 2025, Lotte GRS trimmed its Angel-in-us coffee chain from 449 stores to roughly 240 locations, a 47% contraction. CJ Foodville shuttered its "Seasonal Table" Korean buffet brand and tightened restaurant store counts before returning to 1.207 trillion won in consolidated sales last year — its first time above 1 trillion won in seven years.

"Rather than withdrawing from the business unconditionally, we are focusing on adjusting our store operation method or cleaning up inefficient businesses and investing in competitive brands," an industry official said.

What is Shinsegae Food doing?

Smoothie King Korea, incorporated as a Shinsegae affiliate in 2015, entered liquidation last year after a decade of domestic operations. Verapuz, the U.S. alternative-food unit, was wound up in June 2024. The No Brand Pizza division was reorganized at the end of 2024, and the group meal service business was sold to Our Home affiliates in December.

The conglomerate is now expanding bakery production capacity and pursuing external customers to hit a 570 billion won bakery sales goal this year. The August E-Mart delisting gives Shinsegae Food direct control over the discount retailer's private-label food pipeline.

How is Lotte GRS reworking Angel-in-us?

Angel-in-us locations fell from 449 in 2021 to 412 in 2022, 376 in 2023, and 297 in 2024, with another reduction to about 240 this year. Lotte GRS is keeping the brand but reworking the menu — expanding meal-replacement items including its signature "anti-American sandwiches" and re-launching older popular products.

The restructuring delivered results. Lotte GRS posted 1.11 trillion won in sales last year, up 12.4% year-on-year, and lifted operating profit 30.6% to 51 billion won. Analysts attribute the gains to Lotteria's new-product pipeline and tighter Angel-in-us store economics.

What is CJ Foodville's formula?

CJ Foodville dropped the "Seasonal Table" buffet brand and reduced stores across underperforming restaurant concepts. Bakery chain Tous Les Jours and family-restaurant brand Vips — repositioned around premium locations and core commercial districts after earlier store-rationalization rounds — now anchor the portfolio.

The 1.207 trillion won consolidated revenue print last year marked the company's return to the 1 trillion won tier for the first time since 2018. Industry observers credit the shift away from multi-brand volume growth toward brand-level competitiveness and overseas expansion.

How is SPC Samlip reorganizing?

SPC Samlip cancelled the franchise registration of bakery brand Lepomier in September, 19 years after the chain debuted in 2007. The brand ran as many as 30 direct and franchised stores at its peak; today it operates one direct store in Boramae, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, with no affiliated outlets.

"We plan to operate the business in a way that strengthens the competitiveness of our own direct management business rather than expanding the franchise business," a Sangmidang Holdings official said. "As a result, we applied for the cancellation of the franchise registration of bakery brand Lepomier in August and completed the related process in September."

SPC Samlip previously shut the Korean operations of U.S. egg-sandwich chain Eggslut and converted salad brand "Pig in the Garden" into a distribution-channel product line, keeping the label alive but moving it out of physical retail.

What's the bigger shift?

The pattern is consistent across at least four major operators. Brands are being graded on unit economics, not footprint. Sales and operating profit per store — not store count — have become the primary management indicator, according to industry participants.

"In the past, we focused on expanding our business area by introducing various brands, but recently, we are looking at the profitability and growth potential of individual brands," an industry official said.

The pivot will test whether Korean food companies can sustain margin gains built on smaller, more curated networks as consumer spending on dining out continues to normalize after the post-pandemic expansion boom.