"Kopan," a dessert-snack bread from South Korea's leading confectionery Paris Baguette, has won over local consumers after earning popularity first in France, hitting 10 million in sales in nine months, the company said Tuesday.

Short for Korean pan, Kopan was served as a dessert at the Korea-France summit dinner in Paris in November last year. Because its pronunciation is similar to copain, meaning friend in French, it has been mentioned as being symbolic of the amicable relations between the two countries. The news raised interest at home after it created a buzz on social networking services from people who tried it at French stores. 


Kopan has red bean paste or a cream filling in brioche with a texture that is between bread and a snack. One million Kopans were sold within a month after its release in South Korea in August, making it an early best-seller. It hit 10 million sales as of Thursday.

Paris Baguette opened its first branch in Europe in the Chatelet district of central Paris in July 2014 and a second store in the Opera district of the French capital the next year. (Yonhap)