KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is a fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, which specializes

in fried chicken. An "American icon", it is the world's second largest restaurant chain overall (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with over 18,000 outlets in 120 countries and territories as of December 2012.[4][2] The company is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, a restaurant company which also owns Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. KFC was founded by Harland Sanders, who began selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky during theGreat Depression. Sanders was one of the first people to see the potential of the restaurant franchising concept, with the first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" franchise opening in Utah in 1952. The franchise popularized chicken in the fast food industry, thereby diversifying the market and challenging the dominance of the hamburger.[6] Marketing himself as "Colonel Sanders", he became a legendary figure of American cultural history, and his image is still prominently used in KFC branding.[6] The company's rapid expansion saw it grow too large for Sanders to manage, and in 1964 he sold the company to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown, Jr. and Jack Massey. KFC was one of the first fast food chains to expand internationally, opening outlets in England, Mexico and Puerto Rico by the mid-1960s. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, KFC experienced mixed fortunes domestically, as it went through a series of corporate owners who had little or no experience in the restaurant business. In the early 1970s, KFC was sold to the spirits firm Heublein, who were taken over by the R.J. Reynolds food and tobacco conglomerate, who sold the chain to PepsiCo. The chain continued to expand overseas however, and in 1987 KFC became the first Western restaurant chain to open in China. The chain has since expanded rapidly in China, and the country is now the company's most profitable market. PepsiCo spun off its restaurants division as Tricon Global Restaurants, which later changed its name to Yum! Brands. KFC primarily sells fried chicken pieces and variations such as chicken sandwiches and wraps, salads and side dishes such asFrench fries and coleslaw, desserts and soft drinks, often supplied by PepsiCo. Its most famous product is pressure fried chicken pieces, seasoned with Sanders' "Original Recipe" of 11 herbs and spices. The exact nature of these ingredients is unknown, and represents a notable trade secret. Larger portions of fried chicken are served in a distinctive cardboard "bucket", which has become a signature of the chain since being introduced by franchisee Pete Harman.

KFC is famous for the slogan "finger lickin' good", which has since been replaced by "Nobody does chicken like KFC" and "So good".

Origin
See also: Colonel Sanders

The Harland Sanders Caf and Museum

Harland Sanders was born in 1890, and raised on a farm outside Henryville, Indiana.[7] His father died when he was five years old, forcing his mother to work at a canning plant, and leaving her eldest son to care for his two younger siblings.[8] From the age of seven, his mother taught him how to cook.[7] After leaving the family home at the age of twelve he passed through several professions, with mixed success. [9] In 1930 he took over a Shell filling station on U.S. Route 25 just outside North Corbin, a small city on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains.[10] It was here that he first served to travellers the recipes that he had learned as a boy: fried chicken, and other dishes such as steaks, country ham and pancakes.[8] Originally using his own dining room table, in 1934 he purchased the larger filling station across the street and expanded to six tables.[11] By 1936 this had proved successful enough for Sanders to be given the honorary title of Kentucky colonel by Governor Ruby Laffoon.[8]The following year he expanded his restaurant to 142 seats, and added a motel he purchased across the street, naming it Sanders Court & Caf.[12] Sanders was dissatisfied with the 30 minute duration it took to prepare his chicken in an iron frying pan, but refused to sacrifice quality by deep frying the product.[8] In 1939, the first commercial pressure cookers were released onto the market, predominantly designed for steaming vegetables.[8] Sanders bought one, and modified it into a pressure fryer, which he then used to fry chicken.[13] As well as production time reducing to be comparable with deep frying, the new method produced flakier, moister chicken.[12] In 1940 he finalised what came to be known as his Original Recipe of 11 herbs and spices.[14] Sanders admitted to the use of salt and pepper in the recipe, and claimed that the ingredients used "stand on everybody's shelf". [15] After being recommissioned as a Kentucky Colonel in 1950 by Governor Lawrence Wetherby, Sanders began to dress the part, growing agoatee and wearing a black frock coat (later

switched to a white suit), a string tie, and referring to himself as "Colonel".[15] His associates went along with the title change, "jokingly at first and then in earnest", according to biographer Josh Ozersky.[16]

Franchising

The first KFC franchise, located in Salt Lake City

The Sanders Court & Caf generally served travelers, so when the route planned in 1955 for Interstate 75 bypassed Corbin, Sanders sold his properties and traveled the U.S. to market his chicken concept to restaurant owners.[9] Independent restaurants would pay four to five cents on each chicken as a franchise fee, in exchange for Sanders' "secret blend of herbs and spices" and the right to feature his recipe on their menus and use his name and likeness for promotional purposes.[17] In 1952 he had already successfully franchised his chicken recipe to his friend Pete Harman of South Salt Lake, Utah, the operator of one of that city's largest restaurants.[18] In the first year of selling the product, restaurant sales more than tripled, with 75 per cent of the increase coming from sales of fried chicken.[19] For Harman, the addition of fried chicken was a way of differentiating his restaurant from competitors; a product hailing from Kentucky was exotic, and evoked imagery of Southern hospitality.[20] Don Anderson, a sign painter hired by Harman, coined the name "Kentucky Fried Chicken".[20] As a franchise-led operation, the work of the early franchisees was important to KFC's success, and Pete Harman has been described as the "virtual co-founder" of the chain.[21] Harman trademarked the phrase that would become the company's slogan, "It's finger lickin' good".[17] It was Harman who in 1957 first bundled 14 pieces of chicken, five bread rolls and a pint of gravy in a cardboard bucket to offer families "a complete meal" for $3.50 ($29 in 2013 dollars).[20][22] He adopted the buckets as a favor to Sanders, who had called on behalf of a Denver franchisee who didn't know what to do with the 500 buckets he had bought from a traveling salesman. [20] The takeout concept grew as Americans became more prosperous: choosing to buy meals

outside the home more frequently, and was complimented by the growing television culture.[23] Also, women increasingly had less time to prepare meals at home, as more joined the workforce.[24] In 1963, Pete Harman's restaurant training manual and product guide was adopted across the entire company.[25] Dave Thomas was a franchisee from the mid-1950s, and he developed the rotating bucket sign that came to be used at many KFC locations.[26] Thomas reported that Sanders' fried chicken was a "sensation" from the first day he offered it, with queues lining outside his restaurant door.[27] He was an early advocate of the take-out concept that Pete Harman had pioneered, and introduced a bookkeeping form that Sanders rolled out across the entire KFC chain.[17][28] Thomas sold his shares in 1968 for $1 million, and became regional manager for all KFC restaurants East of the Mississippi before founding the Wendy's restaurant chain in 1969.[26][29]

Operations
See also: List of countries with KFC franchises

KFC is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, one of the largest restaurant companies in the world. While Yum! does not offer individual figures for its restaurant brands, KFC's 2011 sales revenue was estimated at $15 billion.[4] KFC has its headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, in a building on 1441 Gardiner Lane known colloquially as "The White House" due to its resemblance to the Washington, D.C. building.[127] Headquarters include executive offices and the company's research & development facilities.[128] KFC isincorporated in the U.S. state of Delaware.[1] As of 2012, there were over 18,000 KFC outlets in 120 countries and territories around the world: 4,200 in China, 9,000 internationally and 4,6-- in the United States, with China accounting for 49 per cent of revenue.[129] All restaurants are furnished with images of Colonel Sanders.[128] As well as dine-in and take-out, many KFCs offer a drivethrough option.[130] KFC offers a limited delivery service in a small number of markets, mostly in densely populated areas such as Singapore.[128] KFC was described in 2012 by Bloomberg Businessweek as a "muscular player" in developing regions, specifically Africa, China and India, while noting its falling market share in the United States to rivals such as Chick-fil-A and Popeyes.[131]

Products

A Vietnam KFC shrimp burger in 2007

KFC's primary product is pressure-fried pieces of chicken made with the "Original Recipe" seasoning mix. It is marinated, dipped in a flour and egg based mixture, and breaded with flour before being fried. This is usually available in two or three piece individual servings, or in a family size cardboard bucket typically holding from 6 to 16 pieces of chicken. Chicken pieces include drumstick, thigh and keel, and a backbone based breast cut.[185] The chicken is not cooked to order, and is instead kept warm in ovens until sold.[186] If it is not sold within 90 minutes, it is discarded, under KFC's "hot & fresh" policy.[186] The company also sells chicken burgers (including the Zinger and the Tower burgers); wraps ("Twisters" and "Boxmasters"); and a variety of finger foods, including crispy chicken strips and hot wings.[187][188] "Popcorn Chicken" is one of the most widely available KFC products, and consists of small pieces of fried chicken.[91] A number of locations sell grilled chicken, often under the "Brazer" line. In some locations, chicken nuggets are sold, sometimes using the "Kentucky Nuggets" trademark.[189] Some locations sell chicken liversand gizzards.[190] Value dishes are sold under the "Streetwise" name.[191] Some U.S outlets offer an "All You Can Eat" buffet option with a limited menu.[192] KFC adapts its menu internationally to suit regional tastes, and there are over three hundred KFC menu items worldwide.[94] In Asia there is a preference for spicy foods, such as the Zinger chicken burger.[193] A number of territories, such as Ecuador and Singapore, sell fried seafood products.[194][195]

KFC Hot Wings fried chicken in Malaysia.

Side dishes often include French fries, coleslaw, barbecue baked beans, corn on the cob, mashed potato, bread rolls and Americanbiscuits.[196] Salads include the bean salad, the Caesar salad and the garden salad. In a number of territories, KFC sell onion rings.[197]In Asia, rice based side dishes are sold. In Malaysia, chicken meatball soup is sold. In the U.S., potato wedges are sold instead of French fries.[198] Because of the company's previous relationship with PepsiCo, Yum! Brands had a contract to supply Pepsi soft drinks until the end of 2012.[199] Most territories still supply PepsiCo products, but exceptional territories include South Africa, the Philippines, Malaysia, Turkey, Romania, Greece, Israel and Sri Lanka, which stock drinks supplied by The Coca-Cola Company.[200][201][202] In Peru, the locally popular Inca Kola is sold.[203] In a number of Eastern European locations, beer is offered, in addition to soft drinks.[204][205] An own brand dessert is the soft serve ice cream product known as "Avalanche", which contains chocolate bits.[186] Launched in 2009, the Krusher/Krushem range of frozen beverages containing "real bits" such as Kit Kat, Oreo and strawberry shortcake, is available in over 2,000 outlets.[206] Apple pie is a popular dessert worldwide, but other items include sundaes, tres leches cake in Peru, and Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Germany and the Netherlands.[207] In 2012 the "KFC am" breakfast menu began to be rolled out internationally, including such items as pancakes, waffles and porridge, as well as fried chicken.[208]

Advertising
In 2012, Interbrand valued the KFC brand at just under $6 billion.[218] Interbrand lauded KFC's promotional activity on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.[218]

Colonel Sanders was a key component of KFC advertising until his death in 1980. Franchisee Dave Thomas argues that Sanders "stood for values that people understood and liked", and was the logical next step for the food industry after the success of such figures as Uncle Ben.[219] He made several appearances in various B movies and television programs of the period, such as What's My Line? and I've Got a Secret.[220] Despite his death, Sanders remains a key symbol of the company. In 1994, KFC hired Henderson Forsythe to portray the Colonel in a television campaign called "The Colonel's Way".[221] However, consumers failed to embrace the look-alike and the tactic was abandoned.[221]From May 1998, an animated version of the Colonel, "boisterously" voiced by Randy Quaid, was used for television advertisements.[106] KFC chief concept officer Jeff Moody said they "provide a fresh way to communicate our relevance for today's consumers".[222] The animated Colonel was dropped in 2001 in the U.S., and in 2002 in the UK.[223] In 2012, a UK advertisement entitled "4000 cooks" featured an actor made up to look like Sanders. The ubiquity of Sanders has not prevented KFC from introducing a mascot aimed at children. "Chicky", a young animated chicken, was first introduced in China in the early 2000s, and has since been rolled out across a number of markets worldwide.[224] The company is famous for the "It's finger lickin' good" slogan, which originated in the 1950s.[225] After a KFC television advertisement featured Dave Harman (brother of Pete) in the background licking his fingers, a viewer phoned the station to complain.[225] The main actor in the advertisement, a KFC manager named Ken Harbough, upon hearing of this, retorted: "Well, it's finger lickin' good".[225] The phrase stuck and went on to become one of the best-known slogans of the twentieth century.[225] The trademark expired in the United States in 2006, and was replaced in that market with "Follow your taste" until 2010.[226] In 2011, the "finger lickin' good" slogan was dropped in favor of "So good", to be rolled out worldwide.[225] A Yum! executive explained that the new slogan was more holistic, applying to staff and service, as well as food.[227] The company used the phrase from early on, but official slogans from 1956 included "North America's Hospitality Dish" and from 1957, "We fix Sunday dinner seven nights a week".[228][229] The first KFC logo was introduced in 1952 and featured a "Kentucky Fried Chicken" typeface and a logo of the Colonel. It was replaced in 1978 with a similar logo, albeit with a similar typeface and a slightly different Sanders logo. The "KFC" initialism logo was introduced in 1991, and the Colonel's face logo was switched from brown to blue ink.[74] A change in 1997 added a smiling Colonel prominently to advertising. The new Colonel image was different, being a more thinly lined, less cartoonish and more

realistic representation of Sanders. Since 2005, an updated version of the original 1950s logo has been used at some outlets.[230] In 2006 the Colonel logo was updated, replacing his white suit with an apron, bolder colors and a better defined visage.[231] According to Gregg Dedrick, president of KFC's U.S. division, the change, "communicates to customers the realness of Colonel Sanders and the fact that he was a chef".[231] Advertising played a key role at KFC after it was sold by Sanders. In 1968, the company had an advertising budget of over $9 million ($59,417,225 in 2013 dollars). [232] In 1969, KFC hired its first national advertising agency, Leo Burnett.[233] A notable Burnett campaign in 1972 was the "Get a bucket of chicken, have a barrel of fun" jingle, performed byBarry Manilow.[233] Young & Rubicam was KFC's agency of record in the United States from 1976 until the end of 2000.[234] In 1979 "It's nice to feel so good about a meal" was the slogan.[235] Meanwhile, KFC hired Mingo-Jones to reach African American audiences.[70] Mingo-Jones coined the "We do chicken right" slogan, which was later adopted across the whole chain from 1981 until the early 1990s. [236] In 1994, Ogilvy & Mather became KFC's international agency of record.[237] From 1997 to 1999, Ogilvy & Mather used celebrities to endorse KFC products in television advertisements in the UK, such as Ivana Trump, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Ulrika Jonsson.[238] After this campaign, the agency began to simply adapt Y&R's American campaigns for a British audience.[223] In late 2002, BBH was appointed KFC's UK agency.[239] In 2003, the "Soul Food" campaign was launched, aiming to capture the young urban market with music from 1960s and 70s black America.[239] By 2005, this believed to have been a failure, and KFC UK's marketing director left the company amid speculation that the U.S. head office was unhappy with the campaign. [239] Marketing subsequently moved towards a more family orientated line.[239]

Secret recipe

KFC Original Recipe fried chicken

Sanders' Original Recipe of 11 herbs and spices is one of the world's most famous trade secrets.[209] It is critical to the company as a benchmark by which KFC differentiates its product from those of its competitors.[158] Franchisee Dave Thomas argued that the recipe was a success because "everybody wants in on a secret" and John Y. Brown called it "a brilliant marketing ploy".[210][211] The recipe is not patented, because patents eventually expire, whereas trade secrets can remain the intellectual property of their holders in perpetuity.[212] The New York Times described the recipe as one of the company's most valuable assets.[209] Early franchisee Pete Harman credited the chain's popularity to the recipe and the product, and John Y. Brown cites the "incredibly tasty, almost addictive" product as the basis of KFC's staying power.[213] Allen Adamson, managing director of brand consultancy Landor's New York practice, remains unconvinced about the contribution of the secret formula aspect.[214] He argues: "The story may still be part of these companies' folklore, but I'd be surprised if more than two per cent buy the brand because of it". [214] A copy of the recipe, signed by Sanders, is kept in a safe inside a vault in KFC's Louisville headquarters, along with 11 vials containing the recipe's herbs and spices.[131][215] According to Yum! Brands, portions of the secret recipe are known by some of its executives, but only two people in the entire organization know it in its entirety, while a third executive knows the combination to the safe.[216][217] A limited number of KFC employees know the identities of the three executives, that latter of whom are not allowed to travel together on the same plane or in the same car for security reasons.[217] One of the two executives said that no one had come close to guessing the contents of the secret recipe, and added that the actual recipe would include some surprises.[158] To maintain the secrecy of the recipe, half of it is produced by one KFC supplier before it is given to McCormick, who add the second half.[214] A computerized process is then used to blend the mixture.[214]

Developing markets
The company continues to grow in Asia. KFC Holdings is the franchisee of over 640 KFC restaurants in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia and India and is publicly quoted on the Bursa Malaysia.[177] In Indonesia it is the largest Western restaurant chain, with over 420 branches, and one of the few countries where McDonald's is not the dominant chain.[134] The first outlet opened in Jalan Melawai, Jakarta, in 1979.[178] Since then, the chain has grown to hold an estimated 32 per cent market share, and product items include spaghetti, wraps and chicken porridge. [179] The master franchisee is PT Fastfood Indonesia, which is listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange.[178]

KFC operates in the Caribbean and Latin America region, as well as Africa. In 2012, KFC operated 577 restaurants across 36 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America region.[180] As of 2013, there are almost 900 KFCs in Africa, with 660 of these located in South Africa. Egypt and Morocco also have long-established markets. Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria have recently experienced their first KFC openings. The company hopes to expand its African operations, where it is already the regional leader among U.S. fast food chains.[181][182] KFC first entered Pakistan in the late 60s to early 1970s but subsequently closed down.[183] Started again in Gulshan-e-Iqbal in 1997.[42] Presently KFC is branched out in eighteen major cities of Pakistan (including Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sukkur. Murree, Multan) with more than 60 outlets nationwide. KFC Pakistan employs over 1200 Pakistanis, which adds up to 6000 individuals directly dependent in KFC Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan slso receives over Rs.10 million per month from KFC Pakistan as direct taxes, 95% of all food and packing material used in KFC Pakistan is procured locally, which sums up to a purchase of over Rs.35 million per month and each new outlet developed by KFC Pakistan costs approximately Rs.40 million. All of its franchises are operated by Cupola. [184]