Sangmidang seeks North American, European expansion through global partnerships

Hur Jin-soo, vice chairman of Korean bakery giant Sangmidang Holdings, met Gellert Global Group (GGG) Chairman George Gellert and U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner in Paris earlier this week to explore broader partnerships in overseas markets. Sangmidang said Wednesday that Hur discussed business developments and potential cooperation with Gellert and other GGG executives. Samlip, Sangmidang’s mass-market bakery subsidiary, could work with GGG to expand through U.S. supermarket and food service distribution networks and potentially enter Canada and Mexico, the Korean company said. U.S.-based GGG imports and distributes food products to retailers, food service distributors, restaurants, hotels, cruise operators and food manufacturers across North America. It sources more than 4,000 products from 60 countries and generates more than $1.7 billion in sales per year. The discussion first took place on Oct. 18 when Hur attended a reception for GGG’s partner firms at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Paris. Hosted by Kushner, the event brought together about 130 representatives