page_title: History of KFC
section_title: Spin-off as Tricon (later Yum! Brands)
hierarchical_section_title: History of KFC / Spin-off as Tricon (later Yum! Brands)
caption_attribution_description: Kentucky Fried Chicken's breadless chicken "sandwich," composed of 2 fried chicken filets, bacon, pepper Jack cheese, Monterey Jack cheese and Colonel's Sauce
context_page_description: 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 restaurant franchising, and the first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" franchise opened in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1952. KFC popularized chicken in the fast-food industry, diversifying the market by challenging the established dominance of the hamburger. Branding himself "Colonel Sanders", the founder became a prominent figure of American cultural history, and his image remains widely used in KFC advertising. The company's rapid expansion made it too large for Sanders to manage, so in 1964 he sold the company to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown, Jr. and Jack C. Massey.
  KFC was one of the first fast-food chains to expand internationally, opening outlets in England, Mexico, and Jamaica by the mid-1960s. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, KFC experienced mixed success domestically, as it went through a series of changes in corporate ownership with little or no experience in the restaurant business.
context_section_description: In August 1997, PepsiCo spun off its poorly performing restaurants division as a public company valued at US$4.5 billion (around US$6.5 billion in 2013). Although KFC had been doing well, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell had been under-performing. One PepsiCo executive admitted, "restaurants weren't our schtick". The new company, named Tricon Global Restaurants, had 30,000 outlets and annual sales of US$10 billion (around US$14 billion in 2013) at the time, making it second only to McDonald's in global sales.
  Since the turn of the 21st century, fast food has been criticised for its animal welfare record, its links to obesity and its environmental impact. Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation (2002) and Morgan Spurlock's film Super Size Me (2004) reflected these concerns. Since 2003, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has protested KFC's choice of poultry suppliers worldwide with the Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign. PETA have held thousands of demonstrations, sometimes in the home towns of KFC executives, and CEO David Novak was soaked in fake blood by a protester. KFC President Gregg Dedrick said PETA mischaracterized KFC as a poultry producer rather than a purchaser of chickens. In 2008, Yum! stated: "[As] a major purchaser of food products, [Yum!] has the opportunity and responsibility to influence the way animals supplied to us are treated. We take that responsibility very seriously, and we are monitoring our suppliers on an ongoing basis."
  Tricon was renamed Yum! Brands in May 2002. In that year, the chain had to contend with Burger King's launch of the Chicken Whopper, as well as fried chicken offerings from the Domino's and Papa John's pizza chains. Within three months, the Chicken Whopper became Burger King's most successful launch of all time, with sales of 50 million. In September 2002, KFC sales were down 10 percent against the previous year. From 2002 to 2005, KFC experienced three years of weak sales, when underinvestment in product development left the brand looking "tired and poorly positioned", according to Restaurant Research, an independent consultancy. A roast chicken product line introduced in 2004 proved unsuccessful, and the worldwide avian flu scare of 2005 temporarily decreased sales by as much as 40 percent. KFC responded in March 2005 by adding a cheap, small chicken burger to the menu called the "Snacker". It proved to be one of the chain's most successful product launches to date, with over 100 million in sales. In international markets, KFC introduced the "Boxmaster", a meal-sized wrap in a box. KFC also began a makeover of the US brand image, bringing back the full "Kentucky Fried Chicken" name at some outlets and returning portraits of Colonel Sanders to prominence.
  In 2009, KFC International launched the Krusher (Krushem in some markets) line of frozen beverages. The product was an attempt to introduce a between-meals snack to KFC, and was marketed towards teenagers. In April 2010, the Double Down sandwich was launched. Criticised as an unhealthy product, it featured two pieces of fried chicken in lieu of a conventional bread bun. It has proved to be a success for the company, with 15 million Double Downs sold worldwide between March 2011 and March 2013. In September 2012, the Chicken Little sandwich returned in the US.
  By December 2013, there were 18,875 KFC outlets in 118 countries and territories around the world. KFC is the second largest restaurant chain in the world by sales after McDonald's.
  In April 2014, Yum! announced that first quarter KFC sales had risen by 11 percent in China, following a 15 percent fall in 2013.
  In July 2014, Chinese authorities closed down the Shanghai operations of the OSI Group, amidst allegations that it had supplied KFC with expired meat. Yum! immediately terminated its contract with the supplier, and stated that the revelation had led to a significant decline in sales.
caption: The Double Down sandwich was launched in 2010
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