South Korean dessert cafe franchise Sulbing said Monday it plans to open 50 branches in Thailand by next year in its latest efforts to expand abroad to secure new growth engines.
  

Sulbing has signed a deal with International World Ettia Thai to open two branches in Thailand's capital of Bangkok by June and have 50 branches across the country by 2016, the company said in a press release.
  

The Thailand deal comes a month after the dessert franchise inked a deal with China's Shanghai Yabin Food Stuff Trade Co. to open some 150 branches in the world's second-largest economy by 2017.
  

"We aim to expand into 16 markets, with talks underway in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore," a company spokesman said.
  

The dessert franchise, which started as a small downtown cafe in South Korea's largest port city of Busan, has quickly ballooned to 490 branches throughout the country in less than two years as its "bingsu" dish captured local taste buds. Bingsu is a traditional dessert made up of shaved ice, red beans and an array of toppings such as milk syrup and rice cake.
  

The dessert cafe chain is among a legion of local food producers, confectioneries and restaurant chains, such as Orion and Paris Baguette, that have gone overseas amid market saturation at home. (Yonhap)