TOUS les JOURS

Overview

TOUS les JOURS is a bakery-café brand owned by CJ Foodville, part of South Korea’s CJ Group. Its French name translates as ‘every day’, reflecting its emphasis on freshly baked products. The range combines European-style breads and pastries with products influenced by Korean and other Asian tastes, alongside celebration cakes, sandwiches and drinks.

The business sits between a traditional bakery, a cake specialist and a coffee shop. Customers can buy individual pastries, assemble larger takeaway purchases or use seating where available. For franchisees, this creates several potential sales occasions, but also a more complicated operating model than a drinks-led café with a limited food selection.

History and growth

TOUS les JOURS opened its first bakery in South Korea in 1997. It developed within a domestic market where branded bakery chains became important competitors to independent neighbourhood businesses. Its identity combined French bakery cues with locally familiar flavours and a broad selection of sweet and savoury products.

International expansion followed in the 2000s, including entry into the United States in 2004 and Vietnam in 2007. These markets illustrate two strands of its development: reaching customers familiar with Asian bakery traditions and introducing the format to a wider audience. Growth has depended on adapting products, store formats and supply arrangements rather than reproducing every aspect of the Korean business unchanged.

Global footprint

Public brand materials described a network of around 1,700 stores worldwide as of 2024, with South Korea remaining its principal market. Overseas operations include the United States and several Asian markets. These figures are a dated indication of scale, not a live store count; openings, closures and changes in market participation can alter the network.

The United States had more than 100 stores as of 2024 and has become an important expansion market. Vietnam and Indonesia also form part of the international business. The balance between company-operated stores, individual franchises and local development arrangements varies by territory, so a global store total should not be read as the number of franchises available to individual investors.

How the franchise model works

At its core, the franchise model gives an approved operator access to the TOUS les JOURS brand, product system and operating standards. The local franchise agreement determines the precise rights, obligations and territory. Applicants should approach the relevant national business: the Korean website describes the home-market operation, rather than a single worldwide franchise offer.

The concept places considerable emphasis on baking and finishing products in-store. Operators must coordinate preparation, proofing, baking, display replenishment and customer service, alongside cake and beverage sales. This requires production planning and trained staff, not simply the resale of centrally finished goods. The exact division between central supply and store-level production depends on the market and product.

Brand support can include training, store-development guidance and operating systems, but its scope must be established from the local offer. Approved ingredients, equipment and suppliers help maintain consistency. They also make supply-chain reliability and the availability of specialist products material considerations when assessing a proposed location.

Investment and requirements

There is no single worldwide investment figure for a TOUS les JOURS franchise. A fitted bakery-café requires premises, production equipment, display cabinets, refrigeration, furniture and opening inventory, as well as funds for recruitment, training and the early trading period. Size, property condition, local construction costs and lease terms can significantly change the total.

US franchise fees and estimated investment ranges are disclosed through the market’s franchise disclosure documents. Applicants should request the current document rather than rely on older online summaries. A comparable universal fee schedule is not publicly disclosed across all territories; prospective franchisees elsewhere should request the relevant local disclosure documents and a written breakdown of initial and continuing charges.

Financial capacity is only one part of suitability. Applicants also need to establish the brand’s current expectations for owner involvement, management experience and available working capital. Any requirements concerning liquidity, net worth, development commitments or multiple-store ownership should be confirmed directly with the relevant franchisor.

What franchisees should consider

Freshness is central to the proposition, but it introduces waste risk. A broad display must remain attractive throughout the day without producing excessive unsold stock. Labour scheduling, baking cycles and demand forecasting therefore influence performance alongside headline sales. Celebration cakes add another operational dimension, involving decoration skills, order accuracy and seasonal peaks.

Site selection should reflect the full bakery offer rather than coffee demand alone. Visibility, convenient access, the surrounding customer base and the balance between neighbourhood and destination visits all matter. Applicants should examine comparable stores’ trading patterns and understand how results vary by store age and location, without assuming that a successful flagship represents a typical outlet.

Territory provisions, refurbishment obligations, supply arrangements and the practical support available during opening also warrant close attention. Conversations with existing franchisees can help establish how the published operating model translates into staffing demands, product availability and day-to-day management.

Competitive landscape

Paris Baguette is the closest large-scale comparison: both brands originated in South Korea and combine bakery retail, cakes and café service. BreadTalk is another relevant competitor in Asian bakery markets. PAUL and Délifrance overlap through French-style bakery positioning, although their formats and local operating arrangements differ.

Competition also comes from independent bakeries, supermarket bakery departments and coffee chains. TOUS les JOURS must therefore compete on product quality, freshness, convenience and local relevance, not simply international recognition. The importance of each competitor depends on whether a particular store primarily serves breakfast, takeaway bakery purchases, café visits or celebration orders.

Outlook

The brand’s international development provides a platform for further expansion, particularly where bakery-café formats and Asian-influenced products attract an established customer base. However, network growth does not itself demonstrate the profitability of individual franchises.

Its longer-term progress will depend on maintaining product consistency while managing labour, property and ingredient costs. For prospective operators, the decisive questions concern local demand, production efficiency and the terms of the market-specific franchise offer, rather than the worldwide store count alone.