The way fast food is prepared and cooked has constantly evolved in recent years, thanks to newer technologies and methods. KFC, or Kentucky Fried Chicken, is no exception, although one of its modernization efforts is to return to the basics. This is to return to the cooking methods its founder, Col. Harland Sanders (whose face graces every branch), employed.
This is being done to bring back and trump up the interest of the public back to its fried chicken. Apparently, the worldwide restaurant chain has not been meeting the standards of its founder, says KFC President Jason Marker.
"Over the last 10 years or so, we haven't been living up to the standards of Colonel Sanders himself," Marker said, as reported by the New York Business Journal. "People continuously end up commenting, 'I don't recall the last time I had KFC.' Our customers were saying 'Your food doesn't taste the same as it used to. Your restaurants don't smell the same as they used to.'"
As of today, the company is making huge leaps in retraining the staff of its 19,000 restaurants across 15 countries (the United States has 4,200 chains). The original way of cooking the chicken is a 25-minute process which mainly involves different spices which have been a secret until the patent expired.
The chicken-selling fast food restaurant is part of the roster of Yum! Brands Inc, the same company which handles Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. Unlike the two, though, it has been struggling with sales in recent years, partially due to the rise of its competitors like Chick-Fil-A and Popeye's. The company's total revenue fell to $3.95 billion last year.
In New York, the chain only operated 47 locations, 13 down from the 60 it had in 2011. Its rivals meanwhile are swooping in: Popeye's now has 82, while Chipotle chains more than doubled, with 33 going to 58.
