History of KFC: how a colonel from Kentucky sold chicken.

Probably everyone knows this chain of restaurants fast food, How KFC. This is one of oldest networks fast food restaurants in the USA. It is famous for its fried chicken all over the world. Last time When I visited KFC, the cashier made several disparaging remarks about the McDonald's opposite, noting that " unlike them, we have natural products!».
Well, there is nothing to argue about. Of course, fried food is also, to put it mildly, not the healthiest, but KFC employees still have a reason to prick McDonald's. In general, if you draw any parallels between McDonald's and KFC, you can see a lot of similarities. For example, the fact that the founder of the company was successful when he was already well over 50 years old. Prior to that, he led a rather miserable life. And Harlan Sanders was already dying as an honorary colonel of the city of Kentucky (the rank of colonel is somewhat similar to the title of honorary citizen). The development of the network also went according to the franchising scheme. The company was often attacked by society. If McDonald's has been criticized for unhealthy food, then KFC has been criticized for killing chickens. I think that the history of this company deserves attention.

6 years of education does not mean that you will be a loser all your life.

On September 9, 1890, Garlan Sanders, the future founder of KFC, was born. I must say that Sanders had a difficult childhood. First, he was far from only child in a family that did not live very richly. His father worked part-time doing some small assignments of farmers in the city of Henryville, where the family actually lived. The mother did not work, as she had to sit with the children, which was the norm for that time. Even if the father could not earn enough money.
The problems began when Garlan's father died. This happened when the future founder of KFC had not even completed the 6th grade of school. His life changed dramatically. First, the mother goes to work in order to somehow feed the family. Garlan, on the other hand, has to play the role of a nanny and take care of his younger brother and sister. This fact became the key in his life. Since these circumstances contributed to the development of Sanders as a culinary specialist (at the same time, all relatives quickly enough began to note that little boy there is real talent in this business).

Talent was talent, but there was no time left for school. As a result, Garlan finished his studies already in the 6th grade. Once and for all. At the age of 6, he goes to work on a farm in the city of Greenwood. By that time, the mother had married a second time - the family had some money, but it disappeared free time, which could be dedicated to Garlan. He was not upset, but decided to take fate into his own hands and go to work in another city. True, connect your life with agriculture the young man did not want to, and soon decided to change jobs. At the age of 15, he got a job as a tram conductor, and a year later he was sent to the US Army to serve as a private. And not just anywhere, but to Cuba! True, a military career did not appeal to Garlan, and in less than a year he left the troops. This time he found more or less permanent job- He got a job as a stoker in the US railroad company.
I must say that Garlan finally had normal money on which to live. Stable income prompted young man To important event in his life - he proposed to a girl named Claudia, with whom he lived his entire subsequent life. After the wedding, the life of the Sanders family was not easy - Garlan was fired from his position as a fireman almost instantly. Over the following years, he tried a lot of other professions, but never found a single one that he could hold out on. for a long time. In such a situation, any marriage would be on the verge, but not the Sanders. The wife endured all the problems of her husband steadfastly, and until the last she believed in him. As it turned out, not in vain.

And he knows how to cook chickens!

By the age of 40, Garlan managed to change several dozen professions. He traded tires, was a stoker, a military man, a conductor, helped farmers, worked as a peddler and much, much more. It would seem that the typical fate of a person who has completed only 6 classes. At one time, Sanders tried to get an education by enrolling in law courses. But for unknown reasons, he never finished them.
However, by the time Garlan was in his 40s, he had little capital accumulated over the years. This money had to be managed somehow. For a long time, Sanders was out of sorts. Most of his life has flown by, and he is still a small man who has achieved nothing, does not have enough money to live in pleasure. He was disappointed in life. And, of course, he wanted to change it. For starters, stop exchanging uninteresting work for him. And in 1930, in Kentucky, he opens his auto repair shop. It should be noted here important point– Garlan seriously considered the location of his workshop, choosing for it the best place- roadside of the 25th federal highway. On this road, people traveled to Florida from the northern states. The flow of customers was endless.

Soon, Sanders decides that he needs to make a small canteen for customers who are waiting for all the operations on their car to go through (it should be noted that Sanders' workshop did the most basic work, such as changing engine oil, tires, etc.). There was no special place for the dining room, and therefore Garlan allocated one workshop room for it (his family lived in several others). This room contained a dining table and 6 chairs. Sanders cooked food directly on home kitchen. Soon, his auto repair shop became famous throughout Kentucky. With his fried chicken. She received the name: "Kentucky Fried Chicken by Harlan Sanders". All clients noted the quality of his seasoning, which he prepared from 11 different spices. Life began to improve.
In order to increase his income, Garlan buys a pressure cooker. It was the time when this species the pan just appeared. One of the first people to appreciate the benefits of pressure cookers was Harlan Sanders. Whereas chicken used to take around 30 minutes to cook, this time has now been reduced to 15. This meant that customers didn't have to wait as long for their food, which contributed to an increase in the number of orders.

A significant event in Sanders' life occurred in 1935, when Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon awarded Harlan the title of "Kentucky Colonel" for services to the state. Indeed, they were great - after all, all over the district they were talking about " National dish» State by Harlan Sanders.
At this time, Sanders realizes that he needs to refocus his business, moving away from the subject of a car workshop. In 37 he opens a motel Sanders Court & Cafe, which was also an independent restaurant quick service. True, you can not compare the fast food restaurant McDonald's and Sanders Court & Cafe, as they were incomparable. Still, Garlan spent about 10-15 minutes preparing the order. So it was not a full-fledged fast food.
Already a colonel, Harlan Sanders began to dress in classic clothes - a white suit and a black bow tie. This is how it is depicted on the KFC logos. This image quickly entered the hearts of ordinary Americans who fell in love with Sanders' small establishment. During these years, Garlan had as many orders and money as he had never had in his entire life. He felt successful.
Of course, minor problems arose from time to time - with supplies, technical ones, once even the building in which the Sanders motel was located burned down. There was money, and therefore it was already rebuilt again, and resumed its work a few months after the incident. In addition, the state authorities tried to help Garlan, since his chicken was a Kentucky landmark. At least for other Americans.

This is the end, my friend?

But life has dealt a blow to Sanders. In the 1950s, the construction of the 75th federal highway was completed. Sanders' restaurant was out of sight of Americans passing from the north to Florida. The number of clients has dropped dramatically. Once successful business rolled down. Sanders was already in his 60s when he again lost his financial balance. It cannot be said that, owning his own restaurant, Garlan was considered a rich man. No. But he certainly wasn't in need. To retire, especially without money, Garlan Sanders did not dare.
On reflection, he came to the conclusion that he could sell his chickens to other restaurants. So, his numerous trips to other restaurants in America began, where he talked about the chicken cooking system “according to Garlan Sanders”. And about your condiment. It took a long time before he was able to find the first customer. Under the terms of the agreement, Sanders received only 5 cents for each of his chickens at each restaurant. Not bad, considering that order volumes have been constantly growing. Needless to say, in the early 60s, Garlan Sanders' clients were several hundred US restaurants.
Already 4 years later Kentucky Fried Chicken reaches the peak of fame, and the old colonel decides to sell the company to private investors. Under the terms of the deal, he received $2 million in cash and a position as a company representative (the face of the brand, in fact), for which he was paid about $250,000 a year. He only needed to meet with the press, clients, employees, in general - to conduct marketing of the head, which, however, he was no longer.

In 1980, at the age of 90, Harlan Sanders passed away. Last years he devoted quite a lot to himself - he traveled, played golf, ran his own restaurant Claudia Sanders' Dinner House with his wife. He was already disappointed in KFC, because he believed that in the pursuit of low price and speed, the owners compromised on the quality of the chickens. However, the history of the company did not end with the death of the colonel ...
Moreover, at one time it was even acquired by the famous Pepsi Co. Today, KFC is owned by Yum! Brands. The network of these restaurants currently operates in more than 50 countries around the world. At the same time, the company prefers to use a co-branding strategy. For example, in Russia, the KFC chain is represented together with the well-known Rostik brand.
On this moment the company employs about 24 thousand employees, and the income for last year amounted to just over half a billion dollars. Not bad, although not in the way that KFC would like. The company has really serious problems with Greenpeace. In addition, in our time, many people have realized how harmful it is to eat fried food. They take care of their health and appearance, and therefore are not eager to visit KFC. Yes, and Colonel Sanders on the company logo, which was a kind of symbol of that generation, is little known today. The company needs to change. This is understood by her leadership. Perhaps the coming years will show how they coped with this task.

“After I said the sinner's prayer, it completely changed my life. It really made a difference in me.” — Colonel Sanders, founder of KFC. The most famous founder of the fast food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Harland Sanders David was born on September 9, 1890 in Henryville, Indiana. After the death of his father when he was 6 years old, his mother had to go to work, and Sanders began to take care of his younger brother and sister on his own.

By the way, this predetermined his fate, since Sanders began to cook a lot and cook quite tasty, while all the relatives began to note that the little boy has excellent abilities for this business. However, he began to earn this for bread only after 30 years.

After a while, his mother remarried, and Sanders went to work. It should be noted that none of his works was his favorite - and he had enough work. And what the future millionaire did not do - a farmer, a tram conductor, an ordinary american army, blacksmith's assistant, locomotive stoker, law trainee in court, insurance agent, furniture mover, ferry captain, salesman car tires and a car mechanic.

Perhaps, of all his works, the happiest was the work of a steam locomotive stoker - it was at that time that he decided to propose to his beloved Claudia, who supported him throughout family life and always believed in her beloved Harland. But the most fateful and even "title-bearing" - work in a car repair shop.

By that time, most of his life had already flown by, and he was still a small person who did not achieve anything, he did not have enough money to live for his own pleasure. He was disappointed in life. And, of course, he wanted to change it.

Yes, Harland was already 40 years old when he opened his first successful business - an auto repair shop on Interstate 25, on which many Americans traveled south from the northern states. The car service began to bring a decent income.

It must be admitted that Sanders showed himself here not only as a practical businessman, but also was extremely perspicacious - after watching the often hungry tourists stopping by him, he decided to open his own canteen, where he fried incomparable chickens with his own hands, adding his unique seasoning!

Chicken became extremely popular, bringing incredible income to the budget. A significant event in the life of Sanders occurred in 1935, when the governor of Kentucky awarded Harland the title of "Kentucky Colonel" for services to the state. Indeed, they were great - after all, all over the area they were talking about the "national dish" of the state from Harland Sanders.

But soon life cracked again - construction was completed new highway, to which the entire stream, which had previously passed Harland's auto repair shop, had rolled off.

It would seem that again a failure, the age is no longer young at all - 62 years old, Harland almost gave up.

And then came to his aid ... fried chicken! Yes, that's right, Harland tensed up, packed his suitcase and went to drive around the nearby restaurants with the only phrase: "I can cook fried chicken better than you." And he was refused again and again, an excellent cook in venerable years was suspiciously examined from head to toe and often not even allowed on the threshold.

It took a long time before he was able to find the first customer. Under the terms of the agreement, Sanders received only 5 cents for each of his chickens at each restaurant. Not bad, considering that order volumes have been constantly growing. Needless to say, already in the early 60s, Harland Sanders' clients were several hundred US restaurants.

And then the desire of Harland Sanders came true - he realized himself 100%. He found his favorite job, completely surrendering to his talent. He made others believe in themselves!

When he was 70 years old, Kentucky Fried Chicken was at the height of its fame, and the old colonel decided to sell the company to private investors for $2 million and the position of company representative (brand face), for which he was paid about $250,000 a year.

He only needed to meet with the press, clients, employees, in general - to conduct marketing of the head, which, however, he was no longer. Well, he didn't need it.

Harland Sanders passed away in 1980 at the age of 90. In recent years, he devoted a lot to himself - he traveled, played golf, ran his own restaurant Claudia Sanders' Dinner House with his wife. Colonel Harland Sanders was able to make his life complete.

This part of the biography of David Harland Sanders may be known to many, but there is a lesser known part of the story of his life. However, one American preacher and author did his best to change that.

Dr. Bob Rogers, whose father Waymon Rogers was the Colonel's pastor, wrote a book about the legendary fried chicken entrepreneur. In this book, he reveals amazing facts about the founder of the KFC restaurant chain, Colonel Sanders. In it he tells the story of how his father baptized this famous billionaire in the Jordan River in 1967, shortly after he became a Christian.

Rogers writes: “My dad knelt beside him and asked, “Colonel, would you like to be born again?” The old colonel, with tears in his eyes, said, “I really want to, do you think that Jesus can really save me and free me from what I swear?” Then dad said, "Colonel, God will save you tonight and you will never swear again." That night, the colonel wholeheartedly accepted Christ into his heart. He was indeed born again and became a new creation in Christ Jesus. Since then, he has never used the Name of the Lord in vain.

A few days after his rescue, the Colonel donated $15,000 to Pastor Rogers' Church in Louisville, Kentucky, a very important amount at the time.

The colonel told the pastor, “After I said the sinner's prayer, it completely changed my life. It really made a difference in me." “I am ready to give a large amount of money, I want to give a tithe to the church.”

Dr. Rogers' book also recounts how the Colonel experienced supernatural healing when a colon operation was scheduled to stop the disease from progressing further. He was waiting for an operation in the hospital when his pastor, Rogers, came to pray for him. A day later, Sanders wrote: "I don't need any more surgery, my pastor came and prayed for me and God healed me!"

The doctor said: "Colonel, when I examined you again, there were no polyps!" The founder of KFC has given generous donations to the church for many years.

He later said, “My prayers have always been out of gratitude. God has been so merciful to me. I've always believed in tithing." “The Bible says you have to give 10% to God. I believe that even if you are a scammer, you still owe 10% to the Lord, at least for the fact that you breathe. Tithing is a great inspiration in my life."

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KFC (until 1991 - Kentucky Fried Chicken - "Kentucky Fried Chicken") is an American chain of catering restaurants specializing in chicken dishes. The company's headquarters is located in Louisville, Kentucky. KFC is the second largest cafe chain in the world, second only to McDonald's. As of December 2013, 18,876 outlets operate under the KFC brand in 118 countries around the world. KFC is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands Corporation, which also owns retail chains Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

KFC was founded by entrepreneur Harland Sanders, who began selling fried chicken dishes during the Great Depression. Seeing franchise potential in the venture, Sanders began selling licensing rights in other states; The first cafe outside of Kentucky opened in 1952 in Utah. Through the efforts of the company, chicken dishes have become an integral part of fast food cuisine, competing with the hamburger, the main symbol of fast food. Sanders himself, who called himself "colonel", became important figure American cultural life. His image is still widely used in KFC advertising campaigns. However, fast development business forced Sanders to sell the company in 1964; the rights to the brand were transferred to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown, Jr. and Jack K. Massey.

Alternative translation:

KFC- Kentucky Fried Chicken The brand name of a chain of express cafes.


Failure can be the first step towards success. Stories of companies that failed when launching new products, but did not lose the war. How Garland David Sanders, Soichiro Honda and Akio Morita turned defeats into victories and when failure is failure.

The needs and opportunities of the population of small towns create excellent opportunities for the development of many niches. What business development strategy can be considered promising in the conditions small town. The specifics of working on a franchise in such a locality.

KFC is an abbreviation for the former name Kentucky Fried Chicken, which existed before 1991, which is translated from English. meant "Kentucky Fried Chicken". This is the name of a network of cafes that specialize in instant cooking chicken dishes (which has become a competitor to hamburgers). And, of course, the headquarters of KFC is located in one of the cities in the US state of Kentucky.

The signature dish of the KFC cuisine is chicken pieces fried in breadcrumbs and seasoned with herbs and spices. One of the company's slogans: "No one cooks chicken like KFC." And this is not surprising, because the secret of the breadcrumbs recipe is a trade secret.

Now the range of dishes offered in the KFC chain has been expanded: various salads, french fries, burrito-like sandwiches stuffed with meat and salads are prepared here, soft drinks are sold. Restaurants and cafes of the KFC chain are very popular, second only in terms of trade turnover. outlets There are more than 20 thousand networks, and they are located in 120 countries of the world. The founder of the company is Garland Sanders, or, as he was called, Colonel Sanders, whose stylized portrait with a signature mustache and goatee can be seen on restaurants and KFC packages. KFC was incorporated in 1952.

A new stage of development has begun for the KFC brand in Russia. For Rostik's, it has become a kind of swan song. Signature image of a cockerel in a chef's cap will now replace the portrait founder of KFC Harland Sanders.

As you know, in 2005 Yum!Restaurants International Russia entered into a strategic alliance with Rostik Group. As a result of the agreement, the Rostik's KFC brand appeared, under which the network has existed until now. The merger of the names of the two brands not only marked an agreement between the companies, but also prepared consumers for the upcoming rebranding, as a result of which only KFC remained from the name of the network.

Last year, Yum! took advantage of its option and bought the network completely. This year, the company began to study the readiness of consumers to replace the familiar brand with another one: several Rostik's KFC restaurants took part in the experiment. In particular, the reaction to the change of interior, signs, names of dishes was tested in Samara, and, as the company says, the results were positive, many visitors were pleased with the presence of a well-known Western brand on the Russian market.

As stated CEO Yum!Restaurants International Russia (YRI) Oleg Pisklov, thanks to cooperation between the companies, it was possible to increase the number of restaurants in Russia and other countries former Union up to 164. 50 of them are corporate, 114 are franchising. The turnover of the entire company in 2010 amounted to more than 11 billion dollars.

“We started preparing for the independent launch of KFC in the spring of this year,” comments Oleg Pisklov. - To date, we have transferred 90 restaurants under the sign of KFC. By the end of 2012, we plan to complete the rebranding. By 2015, our plans are to double the number of restaurants, bringing their number to 300. That is, we need to open 30 restaurants a year. The restaurant market in general and the fast food market in particular is growing and developing very quickly. According to Euromonitor, this growth is estimated at around 15%. Our growth this year is significantly higher - more than 20%. And this once again confirms that both the market and our brand have potential.”

Representatives of the company do not declare the amount spent on the rebranding of the network, but make it clear that we are talking more than significant investment.

The launch of the brand is accompanied by an advertising campaign under the international slogan of the network "SO GOOD". Among other things, the company's turnover will include radically new tools and techniques for merchandising and marketing. TV will become a priority platform for advertising. In addition, the company's communication strategy will be implemented in outdoor advertising And in social networks.

The creative brand account was distributed through a tender. Advertising for KFC is developed directly by the agency, branding and all design-related solutions are handled by the Island of Freedom agency, brand promotion in social networks, in particular on Facebook and Vkontakte - Deluxe 361. In addition, the agency developed the network website. KFC's PR support is handled by Comunica, an integrated communications agency.

“Our communication strategy will be to explain to the chain's customers what the KFC brand is and what its advantages are,” says Piotr Rozansky, Yum!Restaurants International Russia Marketing Director. - The target audience campaigns in Russia - people from 16 to 39 years old. Advertising campaign in support of the brand began in September and will last until December.

Oleg Pisklov also said that the company is considering the possibility of developing another Yum!Brands brand, Pizza Hut, which is popular abroad, on the Russian market.

In general, the company sees great prospects for its own development in Russia, regarding the country as one of the priority markets.

KFC (eng. Kentucky Fried Chicken) is a world famous chain of fast food restaurants specializing in chicken dishes. Every day, more than 12 million guests in 109 countries visit 15,000 restaurants around the world. The brand belongs to the world's largest restaurant company Yum! Brands, whose brand portfolio, in addition to KFC, includes the largest restaurant chains Pizza Hut, Tacco Bell, A&W All-American Food Restaurants.

"Rostiks was originally created as an analogue of KFC - the chicken concept and design of points of sale were copied, and the menu was slightly adapted for Russia," - says Managing Director of BrandLab Alexander Eremenko.- This strategy allows you to save on costs, and on the other hand is an attractive object for future sale. What happened, KFC just needs to replace the logo and corporate character - chicken with their own legendary grandfather. Consumers will only benefit from such changes, since KFC's standards for food and dishes are higher than Rostix."

“My opinion is that this is the right move from KFC,” says Oleg Shestakov, director general of the Papa agency. - Of course, I am not familiar with the research materials and I do not know the attitude of consumers towards the Rostix brand, however, I have repeatedly observed the pattern of the distribution of consumer preferences in the food court format. Everywhere is empty, and there is a line at McDonald's. Why? In our country, people believe everything foreign. Therefore, the Russian shoe brand should be called Carlo Pazolini, and the Russian fast food brand - KFC. Moreover, he is now not Russian at all. In addition, having lost the Rostics prefix, the company can now fully use global marketing tools, branding, advertising strategies, etc., so that in long term rebranding will pay off. In a word, McDonald's finally has a powerful competitor in the domestic market. Yes, and also Wendy's, who has not yet said his word.

“This is a completely expected event, in fact, the final stage of the migration of the Rostiks brand to the KFC brand. It has long been clear that this is all going. And the consumer was ready for this, - says Alexander Kirikov, Head of Brand Development Department at GLOBAL POINT RUSSIA.- KFC for Russian market- a well-known brand. And now it's interesting to see in what light this brand will appear before the audience after he was "left alone." Judging by the presented communication materials, KFC is not going to offer anything fundamentally new. All the same values ​​and images - communication, individuality, choice, music, gender relations. In general, everything is the same as that communicated by competitors and so far with almost the same tone. No detuning parameters are shown to us yet. We'll see how the communication campaign develops."

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