KFC is one of the most iconic fast food brands known to man. Its finger lickin’ good Kentucky Fried Chicken may be the stuff that breaded chicken dreams are made from. But which are the story behind the first KFC? Or how Cola single Sanders started his fried chicken empire to begin with?
- KFC was founded by a man called Harland Sanders aka Colonel Sanders. He started serving his trademark fried chicken when he owned a petrol station just outside North Corbin, Kentucky, back in 1930. After impressing the locals, he was given the title of honorary colonel from the Kentucky governor in 1936 and a mention in Duncan Hines’ 1939 book Adventures In Good Eating. As soon as he realised it had been his chicken persons were into rather than his petrol, he scrapped the petrol station and turned it into a 142-seat roadside restaurant and motel called Sanders’ Court & Cafe.
- The first restaurant going by the name Kentucky Fried Chicken opened in 1952 in Salt Lake City after The Colonel met cafe owner Peter Harman at a food seminar.
- In 1991, the KFC name was officially adopted, though it was already widely known as this instead of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Kyle Craig, president of KFC US, admitted the change was an effort to distance the chain from the unhealthy connotations of “fried”. Visit KFC USA Prices to get more insight.
- The KFC recipe is super-secret. During his lifetime, Colonel Sanders always kept the blend of 11 herbs and spices for his trademark chicken in his own head, before writing it on a scrap of paper, which he stored in his wallet. These days, the recipe is kept under literal lock and key at the KFC headquarters; with just a few select members of the business privy to the information.
- KFC is traditionally eaten on Chris certainly xtmas Day in Japan. Buckets of fried chicken are enjoyed by millions of Japanese families from November through to Christmas Day each year. It’s so popular that orders are made weeks in advance and massive queues form first thing on Christmas Day. But why? Well, it’s all related to a hugely succesful marketing campaign from 1974 called “Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii”, which roughly results in “Kentucky for Christmas!”
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6. You can get yourself a pair of KFC Crocs. Yeah, I’m afraid that’s true – KFC Crocs are a thing, and there are actually two versions: The first is the classic clog, which looks like your typical croc but with a KFC twist. It’s got the classic KFC bucket design on the bottom, while the top has a fried chicken print complete with two removable chicken-scented Jibbitz, which look accurately like chicken drumsticks. Yes, I said chicken-scented. Nevertheless, you can’t actually eat them…
7. Oh, and Kim Kardashian has a pair, because, of course she does.
8. A KFC pizza exists, and it’s hella tasty. In 2019, KFC and Pizza Hut joined forces to create the greatest pizza in existence. The two fast food giants have launched the Popcorn Chicken Pizza, making all our wildest dreams become a reality.
The pizza features KFC’s iconic gravy on a sizable classic crust base, with mozzarella cheese topped with Popcorn Chicken and sprinkled with sweetcorn.
9. A couple got engaged at a KFC in South Africa and the fast food chain paid for their wedding. After a video Hector Mkansi’s proposal to Nonhlanhla Soldaat went viral (sadly, because some miseries slammed Hector for proposing in a fast-food restaurant), lots of individuals came forward and said they wished to contribute to the wedding.
10. There are around 23,000 KFC spots across the world.
11. The Colonel has his own video game. It’s called Colonel Quest and the aim of the video game is to gather as many chicken drumsticks as possible. You do that by learning details about The Colonel’s colourful life.
12. Oh, and there’s a comic book about him too. The Colonel’s Adventure Comics depicts early events in Colonel Sanders’ life that eventually resulted in the discovery of his real super power: fried chicken.