[INTERVIEW] Bontemps' twisted donuts lead popularity of Korean desserts abroad (2024)

Stores in Tokyo, Osaka ride high on Korean confectionary wave

By Ko Dong-hwan

Bontemps is spreading around the world the joy of Korea’s long-surviving confectionary “kkwabegi,” a twisted donut sprinkled with sugar, by transforming the low-priced street food into a colorful variety with creative toppings, according to the head of the company, Tuesday.

In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Bontemps Founder and CEO Lee Sang-hun said that the company is currently targeting consumers in Mongolia and Vietnam where its donuts are being sold. Running four stores in Korea and two in Japan, Lee expanded his consumer markets to Mongolia and Vietnam in April, after signing a business partnership contract with the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and GS Retail which operates major convenience store chain GS25 here.

Under the deal, Bontemps began selling its donuts through GS25 stores in both countries — 300 locations in Vietnam and 276 in Mongolia as of this month — with business support from the ministry. Bontemps was the first company to be supported under the government initiative to grow Korea’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the food industry overseas with the help of bigger Korean companies that have established overseas business networks.

Lee said that Bontemps, with supports from his two partners, is now thoroughly equipped to do well in both countries. In addition to the company’s signature donuts, he has introduced several new varieties to target local consumers’ particular appetites. All Bontemps donuts selling in the two countries are made and distributed locally.

“The food ministry and GS25 have been helping us a lot by catering to every detail. So I anticipate a good result,” Lee said. “We’re running Bontemps as a shop-in-shop inside GS25 stores in Vietnam and Mongolia so we don’t have any data on local consumer markets. But I’m doing the best I can to support GS25 and maximize Bontemps’ sales. It’s my wish to promote K-desserts and Bontemps across the world. Hopefully, our brand will be the first thing that pops into their heads when they think about Korean kkwabegi.”

Bontemps in Japan

Bontemps, with its name derived from a French phrase meaning “good time” in English, expanded to Japan in February when it opened its first Japan store near Orange Street in Osaka’s Chuo Ward. The second Japanese store is scheduled to open within this month in Tokyo’s Nakameguro. Lee said that Bontemps Osaka’s popularity among local consumers had attracted GS Retail to contact him and pursue a partnership.

Bontemps stores in Japan are run by One’s Tryin, a Japanese franchise management company Lee signed a master franchise deal with to hand over the direct management rights for the stores there.

Lee said that he selected One’s Tryin out of three candidates because it showed the highest interest and he felt the company "treasured" Korean dessert culture. Bontemps now expects to open another store in f*ckuoka.

“One’s Tryin is now managing market expansion in Japan, sorting out calls from entrepreneurs interested in Bontemps and arranging locations and schedules for upcoming new stores,” Lee said.

Bontemps took its first step in Japan by opening a pop-up store inside Takashimaya Department Store in Nagoya in July 2023. The business boomed while it ran for two weeks.

“From morning to evening, long queues kept crowding the store. Daily sales reached over 9 million won ($6,500) on average,” Lee said. It was the pop-up’s success that attracted the Japanese companies interested in signing a master franchise deal with Bontemps.

Bitter start

Bontemps’ flagship store is located in southeastern Seoul’s commercial hotspot near Seokchon Lake in Songpa District. The brand also attracts visitors with its second store near Seoul Forest and a follow-up shop inside Hyundai Department Store in Daegu. Gangneung in Gangwon Province expects to see the opening of the fourth store this week.

Bontemps’ Seoul stores particularly created buzz among foreign residents and tourists, who learned about the Korean signature pastry reborn with outrageous transformation. From a nondescript deep-fried twisted dough dipped in sugar, the new varieties are topped with cherries, strawberries, cheese, cream, garlic, butter, Oreos and even more daring ingredients.

“We have 20 different kinds of twisted donuts and another 20 that I’ve kept inside my secret vault to reveal later,” Lee said.

Lee rejects a fantasy to expand Bontemps’ domestic market by franchising the brand, because he believes that twisted donuts cannot be a competitive item to sustain a franchise business for the long term. He said that franchisees will hardly earn any money out of selling donuts for less than 5,000 won apiece. The items are also easy to cook and the recipe is easy to copy, so Bontemps will likely see other brands emulating them and threatening its brand.

“So I will directly manage my own stores here instead of franchising it for a broader market,” Lee said. “That way, I can solidify my ground in Korea and expand overseas more safely.”

What had pushed Lee into launching Bontemps in 2021 was a bitter experience with a major department store in Korea as a hired supervisor for a kkwabegi pop-up store. Upon closing one day, he asked a department store manager where he could wash dishes. The response he got was that there was no space for him to do so and he would have to take them with him. Shocked, he took them home and washed them there, believing it was because he was selling kkwabegi that the mall treated him poorly.

“That’s when I decided to come up with a new brand for more glamorous kkwabegi that’s going to be irreplaceable and all major department stores will beg me to open a store inside their malls,” Lee said. Two months after Bontemps’ first store opened in Jamsil, he received calls from Lotte Shopping, Shinsegae and Hyundai Department Store with offers to open Bontemps stores.

Who is Lee Sang-hun?

Lee was a part-time employee at a local highway rest stop in Korea after completing his military service, making and selling "kkwabegi," or twisted donut. While working there, he first envisioned the pastry’s business potential.

In 2018, he supervised a pop-up store for the kkwabegi brand he worked for at a department store he declined to identify. The experience prompted him to study and introduce his own kkwabegi brand later.

His key to a new kkwabegi was breaking out of the pastry’s decades-old image and making it trendier to appeal to consumers of all ages. He decided to use less sugar than the traditional kkwabegi to make his donuts healthier.

Bontemps’ Seoul stores mirror rooms Lee had imagined as a teenager, displaying unique interior designs and props that have become popular alongside the donuts.