SEOUL, Jan. 10 (UPI) — South Korean food conglomerate SPC Group announced it has partnered with U.S. burger chain Shake Shack to open stores in Malaysia.
Under the agreement, SPC said Friday it would launch 10 Shake Shacks in Malaysia in the next 10 years.
This is not the first time that the two partners have teamed up in Asia.
SPC has the operating rights over Shake Shack in Korea and Singapore. A Shake Shack branch in Seoul is one of the most profitable branches globally.
Among the global partners of Shake Shack, SPC is the only one to make hamburger buns in-house, instead of importing them through the Shake Shack supply chain.
“SPC and Shake Shack have maintained a long-lasting partnership, launching 28 branches in Korea and Singapore. We will keep collaborating across the board,” SPC Vice President Hur Hee-soo said in a statement.
SPC plans to open the first Shake Shack outlet in Malaysia next year and plans to increase the number of Shake Shack branches in South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore to 45 by 2031.
After the announcement, Shake Shack’s official social media account uploaded a post saying, “Big news! Shake Shack Malaysia is officially in the works.”
Michael Kark, the chief global licensing officer of Shake Shack, confirmed the goal of launching more than 45 Shake Shack branches across the Asia region by 2031.
Since Shake Shack’s 2001 launch, the New York-based company has expanded to 15 other countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico.