es in BPB to its joint-venture partner Paris Baguette Singapore under an agreement signed on June 29 and completed the following day. As a condition of exit, it settled RM3.91 million of BPB’s liabilities, including hire-purchase obligations owed to Prime Credit Leasing, a subsidiary of parent Berjaya Corporation.  The RM20 million Berjaya Food invested since the venture’s incorporation in July 2022 had already been fully impaired, while BPB itself recorded accumulated losses after tax of RM67.09. Over roughly three years, the business lost an average of more than RM20 million annually.  The arithmetic of premium bakery Paris Baguette arrived in Malaysia in January 2023. Its owner, SPC Group, operates around 4000 stores worldwide and has made Southeast Asia a priority. Yet, the region failed to meet the company’s expectations.  Anwaar H Razmi, country general manager of Domino’s Pizza in Oman, had watched the venture with genuine optimism. “I was genuinely hopeful this could become one of Berjaya Food’s global growth stories,” he said. “Not just another cafe-bakery concept, but a platform they could scale across the region to diversify beyond their existing portfolio.”  Instead, he argues, the network simply never carried its own weight. “It may have been difficult to achieve the density needed to absorb fixed costs. Premium locations, imported ingredients and skilled bakery talent all create a cost structure that requires meaningful volume to generate attractive returns.” Infrastructure compounded the problem. Premium bakery chains typically depend on centralised production to guarantee consistency across outlets.  “Investing in a central kitchen is usually the right long-term move, but only when store expansion follows,” Razmi noted. “If rollout slows, that infrastructure can become a significant fixed-cost burden before the benefits of scale are realised.” That analysis lands harder in Malaysia’s current cafe market, where premium positioning has been squeezed from below. Homegrown chains led by Zus Coffee have aggressively expanded at sharper price points, while Chinese entrants such as Luckin and Cotti have reset consumer expectations for what an affordable daily coffee-and-pastry occasion costs. The franchisor takes the wheel Following the exit, SPC will have direct control of the Malaysian market. In February 2025, SPC opened a US$56 million halal-certified production centre in Johor’s Nusajaya Tech Park – a 12,900-square-metre facility with seven lines capable of turning out 100 million bakery products annually, built as the launchpad for the group’s push into the US$2.5 trillion halal food market, according to the Korea Herald.  Chairman Hur Young-in described the plant as the base for reaching two billion Muslim consumers across Southeast Asia and the Middle East, in service of a Vision 2030 target of 12,000 Paris Baguette stores worldwide. Razmi cautions against reading the ownership change as a verdict on the brand.  “Paris Baguette Singapore acquiring full ownership doesn’t necessarily mean the brand itself has failed in Malaysia,” he said. “It could equally reflect a decision by the franchisor to take direct control of the market going forward.” Further reading: Luckin’s next move: Why its investor is buying Blue Bottle.