Claim: KFC was sold to Heublein in the early 1970s.

Kentucky Fried Chicken , more commonly known by its initials KFC , is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken . Headquartered in Louisville , Kentucky , it is the world 's second-largest restaurant chain -LRB- as measured by sales -RRB- after McDonald 's , with almost 20,000 locations globally in 123 countries and territories . The chain is a subsidiary of Yum ! Brands , a restaurant company that also owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains .   KFC was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders , an entrepreneur who began selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant in Corbin , Kentucky during the Great Depression . Sanders identified the potential of the restaurant franchising concept , and the first `` Kentucky Fried Chicken '' franchise opened in Utah in 1952 . KFC popularized chicken in the fast food industry , diversifying the market by challenging the established dominance of the hamburger . By branding himself as `` Colonel Sanders '' , Harland became a prominent figure of American cultural history , and his image remains widely used in KFC advertising . However , the company 's rapid expansion overwhelmed the aging Sanders and he sold it to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack C. Massey in 1964 .   KFC was one of the first American fast food chains to expand internationally , opening outlets in Canada , the United Kingdom , Mexico , and Jamaica by the mid-1960s . Throughout the 1970s and 1980s , it experienced mixed fortunes domestically , as it went through a series of changes in corporate ownership with little or no experience in the restaurant business . In the early-1970s , KFC was sold to the spirits distributor Heublein , which was taken over by the R.J. Reynolds food and tobacco conglomerate ; that company sold the chain to PepsiCo . The chain continued to expand overseas , however , and in 1987 , it became the first Western restaurant chain to open in China . It has since expanded rapidly in China , which is now the company 's single largest market . PepsiCo spun off its restaurants division as Tricon Global Restaurants , which later changed its name to Yum ! Brands .   KFC 's original product is pressure fried chicken pieces , seasoned with Sanders ' recipe of 11 herbs and spices . The constituents of the recipe represent a notable trade secret . Larger portions of fried chicken are served in a cardboard `` bucket '' , which has become a well known feature of the chain since it was first introduced by franchisee Pete Harman in 1957 . Since the early 1990s , KFC has expanded its menu to offer other chicken products such as chicken fillet burgers and wraps , as well as salads and side dishes , such as French fries and coleslaw , desserts , and soft drinks , the latter often supplied by PepsiCo . KFC is known for its slogans `` Finger Lickin ' Good '' , `` Nobody does chicken like KFC '' and `` So good '' .