Union Square Hospitality Group CEO Danny Meyer speaks at a press conference at a Shake Shack store in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of SPC Group

By Park Jae-hyuk

Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer has recognized Shake Shack's Seoul restaurant as the world-best for its high-quality ingredients and socially responsible management, during his first visit to Korea, Monday.

"The two Shake Shacks in Seoul are our top performing Shake Shacks in the entire world. One of them is probably among the top three," said the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) running the restaurant chain, during a press conference at the Cheongdam store in southern Seoul.

The New York-based fast casual restaurant chain has opened more than 120 stores in 13 countries, including the U.K., Japan and the United Arab Emirates. It opened stores here in Gangnam and Cheongdam, both of which are located in southern Seoul.

The CEO said the Korean branch is the only one that can produce hamburgers tasting exactly the same as those made in New York stores. He said the flavors of Korea-made burgers made him feel like he was at home.

"Everywhere else in the world except for Seoul, the hamburger bun is shipped all the way from Pennsylvania to Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Istanbul, Moscow and London," he said.

"But here we finally were able to find a bun, because SPC works so hard and because they are a baking company to begin with. They figured out for the first time ever how to make a bun that is good enough to be called Shake Shack."

The Korean company, which is best known for its Paris Baguette bakery chain, signed a monopoly operation contract with USHG to bring the premium burger chain here and attracts about 3,000 customers on average to the Gangnam store every day.

Meyer attributed Shake Shack's great success in Korea to SPC's socially responsible business philosophy. He met SPC vice president Hur Hee-soo in New York City six years ago and realized the two companies are both dedicated to social contribution.

Established in 1985, USHG has cooperated with non-governmental organizations for relief activities in communities, including offering free meals to needy neighbors. The CEO, who was chosen as one of the 100 most influential people by TIME magazine in 2015, has emphasized "hospitality" as the core value for Shake Shack and USHG.