KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken)

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KFC is an American fast food chain based in Louisville, Kentucky.
The brand was founded in the mid-twentieth century by Colonel Harland Sanders. He is famous for his fried chicken recipes.

In 2010, the channel serves nearly 8 million customers worldwide in its 20,000 restaurants in 135 countries and has a logo visible from space. The presence of KFC in the world makes this brand one of the international leaders in the fast-food industry. Its specificity is to offer only chicken preparations.

History

Harland Sanders, said the colonel (honorary title awarded by the governor of Kentucky) was born in Henryville, Indiana. He has been passionate about cooking since a young age.

After working in many trades during his youth to provide for his family, in 1940 he decided to serve his own recipes to customers at the petrol station he owned in Corbin, Kentucky. As he is successful, he opens a motel-restaurant across the street, a thriving business that allows him to begin creating a network of franchises across the country.

He is forced to close his business a few years later because of the construction of a new highway.

He finds himself ruined and decided to leave the United States in search of a restaurant that would buy him chickens.

He creates his new company called "Kentucky Fried Chicken" under the guidance of Pete Harman, the owner of the very first franchise sold by the Colonel.

In 1952, the first KFC restaurant was opened near Salt Lake City, Utah.

His company will then start growing to own 600 outlets across the United States.

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He broke away in 1964 for $ 2 million from a group of investors led by Kentucky's future governor, John Y. Brown, Jr., who graduated from Kentucky Law School, hired Pete Harman as well. a Nashville financier, John Jack Massey.

The two men then fight to obtain the rights of the international franchises. Colonel Sanders becomes primarily an advertising icon, responsible for shooting television spots and inaugurating new establishments. As for Brown and Massey, they are trying to expand the brand throughout the US by setting up restaurants in each of the 50 states.

The most noticeable change will no doubt be the change from a dine-in restaurant formula, which is served at the table, to a formula more ingrained in fast food: place the order and be served at the cash desk. These transformations are a real success for both consumers and franchisees.

In 1991 Kentucky Fried Chicken was abbreviated as KFC.
There has never been an official explanation for this name change but there are some rumors about it. The first would be that the chain did not want to be identified only with its chicken since it also proposed other dishes and condiments she wanted to make known. The second accuses the pejorative connotation of the word fried, often pledge of poor quality. Finally, the last one would question the simple fact that a shortened version of the name of the channel would ring younger.

Products

A classic KFC menu consists of a drink, a white cabbage salad and chick pieces prepared according to the original recipe.

In addition to fried chicken, KFC also offers side dishes such as mayonnaise-style cabbage salad, mashed potatoes, pastries, corn on the cob, pies, hamburgers, ribs, and more. pork, green beans, chicken wings, fried chicken bites served in a cardboard cone "chicken popcorn", sandwiches and desserts.

Nevertheless, be aware that the map of the chain is less diversified outside the United States.

In France, for example, KFC only offers corn, salad and fries. Indeed, KFC adapts to regional specificities as is the case in Quebec with poutine (a dish made of three elements, fries, cheddar cheese and brown sauce).

In Spain, the accompaniments may be closer to the American style with white cabbage salad, white rice, red beans in sauce, and french fries.

Some of the local menu innovations can be adopted by all KFC franchisees around the world based on indigenous food usage.

In the United States, KFC products are the most popular dishes for the last meal of those sentenced to death.

Secret recipe

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The secret recipe for 11 herbs and herbs was invented and developed during 9 years by Colonel Sanders in his restaurant in Corbin. This legend is widely used by the brand as a means of promotion.

It is one of the best kept secrets in the business world and is still used today in KFC restaurants. The sheet on which the recipe is written would be kept in a safe in Louisville and even the group's president and CEO would not know the exact content.

The KFC fried chicken would be cooked in a pressure cooker and not in a conventional fryer, which would, according to the chain, give the meat a unique flavor. But in fact, it would only be to save time, this cooking technique would not change the taste of chicken. Indeed, Colonel Sanders would have used a pressure cooker only to serve his customers faster, sparing them the 45 minutes of waiting needed to fry a chicken in boiling oil.

In 1985, journalist William Poundstone wrote a book in which he analyzes and reveals the composition of the secret recipe. He explains that he had to study the various patents filed by the Colonel and file ads in student newspapers to call KFC employees to share their knowledge. He came to the conclusion that Sanders' chicken would be different because he would have used more than normal amount of oil and would begin cooking chicken at 200°C the first minute and after lowering the temperature to 120 ° C until the end of cooking.

An analytical laboratory also revealed to him that the 11 herbs and herbs supposedly used would be in fact only sugar, flour, salt, black pepper, and monosodium glutamate.

According to the journalist, it is very likely that the real recipe of Colonel was changed in the years following the sale of his company, to produce chicken cheaply.

Sanders himself would have been indignant at the decline in the quality of his business.

Publicity

The first commercials for KFC feature Colonel Sanders who tasted his chicken while talking about his secret recipe and the authenticity of his brand. They also emphasized family and traditional values, inviting viewers to all gather around the KFC chicken.

After the colonel's death in 1980, the channel produced a series of humorous advertisements based on the principle of modeling clay animation. Most showed a stylized chicken meant to represent the poor quality of other competing brands.

In the late 1990s, a new stylized version of Colonel Sanders appeared on the brand's banners. The commercials begin to stage an animated version of Colonel Joyeux, who sings and dances promoting his products to viewers.

In the 2000s, it is more rare to see this character appear on American television, the ads for KFC being rather oriented on the satisfaction of customers to eat the famous chicken. They use a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's song Sweet Home Alabama.

In 2006, KFC created a gigantic advertising sign in the Nevada desert, near Area 51 (https://steemit.com/ufo/@lndesta120282/the-area-51) with a total area of 8,128.75 m2, the new logo of the chain is visible from space.

It took 3,000 hours of work to place side-by-side painted squares of 30 cm side, like a gigantic puzzle made up of 55,000 pieces.

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The banner also uses the video game industry to promote its products. Thus, one can find KFC restaurants in some video games.

In June 2017, the sign sends one of its burgers in space. The Zinger sandwich flew into space aboard a balloon run by a company that plans to send tourists into space.

In 1986, KFC had already launched the "Chix in Space" operation by sending a chick embryo into space to study its growth. Unfortunately, for the fast-food chain and the chick, the shuttle that had taken care of the trip had disintegrated.

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Personally, I have never been eaten in a restaurant KFC, there is none in the geography area where I am, in any case, I've never seen but occasionally, I would like taste the famous chicken of Colonel Harland Sanders.

It's been years since I see KFC commercials and it makes me want to eat in one of their fried chicken.