China’s relentless appetite for the colonel’s chicken has KFC on a building boom in the world’s most populous country, with 1,200 locations, soaring profits and a menu that mixes in bamboo shoots and lotus roots.
At a time when its sales in the United States are struggling, KFC is dominating even rival McDonald’s in China and turning the goateed visage of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Harland Sanders into a ubiquitous symbol of America.
“We are really positioned as a part of the fabric of life in China,” said David Novak, chairman and chief executive of Louisville-based Yum Brands Inc., parent company of KFC.
Sam Su, president of Yum’s China division, called China “the ultimate marketplace.” He predicted that as the Chinese economy grows, it will someday surpass the number of KFC restaurants in the United States, where there are 5,453 stand-alone locations and 1,277 multibrand outlets featuring other Yum brands.
“In many parts of China, the local municipal governments actually view the arrival of a KFC as a sign of the city coming of age,” Su said in a phone interview from China.
Source: Newsday
