Story of KFC - The World Famous Brand!

Hey kids! Welcome back to KidsCast! Today, we will talk about KFC, something that all of you are familiar with, right? And, well why won't you be, after all, it is one of the biggest restaurant chains in the entire world! Now, without wasting another second, let's get into it!

What is KFC? 

So, KFC stands for 'Kentucky Fried Chicken', the name does itself, doesn't it? KFC is an American Fast Food Brand, which started in, you guessed it right, Kentucky! It started over 75 years ago! The founder of this legendary fast food brand is Colonel Sanders, we'll discuss him later in this article. 

Today, KFC is present in over 145 countries, with 25,000+ outlets! By looking at these numbers, you will get a perfect view of how big this brand this! 

The Founder: Colonel Sanders! 

So, Colonel Harland David Sanders was an American businessman and entrepreneur who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fast food chain. He is best known for his role as the company's spokesperson and his distinctive appearance, including his white suit and black string tie.

He was born on September 9, 1890, in Henryville, Indiana, and grew up on a farm in Kentucky. He left home at the age of 13 and did a variety of odd jobs. He even served in the military, reaching the rank of colonel in the National Guard. Doing all the jobs he had, he barely enjoyed them, but one thing he loved truly was Cooking, which led him to start KFC.

Sanders continued to work as the spokesperson for KFC until his death on December 16, 1980. He remains an iconic figure in American popular culture, and his image is still used extensively in KFC's marketing efforts!

So now all of you know whom to thank for the delicious and the least to say, the legendary fried chicken we all love today. It was all his contribution to making KFC stand as a world-famous brand.

Struggles of Sanders

Now, making KFC a big thing wasn't easy, Sanders had to face lots of failures along the way, and he was turned down 1009 times! Woah, can you guys believe it! But the fact which is even more surprising is that Sanders didn't give up there, he kept on trying and trying and trying, to the point he finally achieved success. As a fact, in 1976 Sanders was even called "The Second most Recognizable celebrity in the world".

After he sold his KFC, eventually the recipe got changed, and oh well, Sanders wasn't happy about it, he expressed his anger by saying "This is the worst fried chicken I have ever seen!", he said it tasted like "wallpaper taste".

KFC's Story

In the 1930s, Sanders began cooking as a profession and opened a service station in Kentucky where he served food to travellers. He developed a recipe for fried chicken that became very popular, leading him to open a restaurant called Sanders Court & Café.

Eventually, he franchised his recipe to restaurant owners in Utah, which led to the start of KFC. The chain grew rapidly, and by the time Sanders sold it in 1964, there were over 600 KFC franchises in the US and Canada! However, the success was overwhelming for Sanders and at 73 he sold the company for $2 million USD. He continued to work as a brand ambassador for KFC and was in control of the franchise in Canada.

After his death in 1980, the company was sold to RJ Reynolds and later to Pepsi Co for $850 million USD.

Later in May 2022, Pepsi Co. renamed to be as 'Yum! Brands', which is one of the Biggest Fast food corporations in the world! Since then, Yum! Brands are the operator of KFC, not only KFC but so many other Fast Food Brands, such as Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill!

So, kids, that's it for today's delicious and fun article about KFC! We really hope you guys enjoyed this article. We will soon be back with another amazing article, till then, Happy Learning!