When Colonel Harland Sanders started selling fried chicken in Kentucky, way back in the 1930s, no one could have predicted just how huge his venture would become. It's now a global fast food empire, with around 24,000 locations in more than 125 countries around the world. But how did it get there – and who came up with the genius idea of serving chicken in a bucket? From tough beginnings to pioneering the franchise model, we look at how KFC grew from its small-town beginnings.
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The late Colonel Harland Sanders made his fortune from the fried chicken chain he founded, and has been immortalised as the face of the brand. However, his background was a humble one, and success certainly didn't come easy. Born near Henryville, Indiana in 1890, he left home at age 13 and went on to work numerous jobs, including stints as a steamboat pilot, fireman and farmer. In the 1930s, he took over a service station just outside of North Corbin, Kentucky – and started selling fried chicken.
Deciding to scrap the fuel element of the enterprise, Sanders turned the petrol station into a 142-seat roadside diner and motel. Harland Sanders Cafe, as it was then known, quickly became popular thanks to its exemplary fried chicken, which was cooked in a pressure cooker according to the colonel’s instructions, using his now legendary 11 secret herbs and spices recipe. Sanders Cafe is now on the National Register of Historical Places, and fast food fans flock here to sample the famous chicken in its original birthplace, and to visit the attached museum.
Just a few year later, though, his business was suffering, and Sanders was to once again to find himself almost penniless. Now in his 60s, he refused to give up. Armed with his secret seasoning recipe (written on a piece of paper and stashed in his wallet), he travelled door to door, visiting restaurants in the area in an attempt to convince restaurant owners to serve his secret recipe fried chicken.
As a testament to the power of perseverance, legend has it that Sanders was turned down 1,009 times before he struck upon his first franchise agreement. The all-important first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise was opened by Peter Harman in 1952, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Not only did Harman pave the way for further franchising opportunities, he coined the marketing slogan, ‘Finger Lickin’ Good’. Meanwhile, Sanders continued to travel the country seeking out franchising opportunities and growing his business model.
KFC’s pared-back first menu had options that current customers would still recognise, although modern-day fan favourites like the Zinger and Twister Wrap were, of course, yet to be invented. The popular original Combo Boxes were born out of a desire to offer an affordable meal for individuals as well as groups; customers could expect a box of hot, crispy fried chicken accompanied by a portion of gravy, mashed potatoes and coleslaw, or hot rolls and honey.
In 1957, KFC’s now iconic red-and-white buckets entered the market, and have remained one of the brand’s most popular inventions ever since. At the time, the launch campaign targeted busy housewives, with the idea that a bucket – featuring chicken, hot rolls and gravy – could feed a whole family and give the home cook an evening off.
By 1963, KFC’s popularity had reached unprecedented levels. In just three years, the franchise had opened around 400 stores, taking the total number of locations across the US and Canada over the 600 mark. However, by this point Sanders was already in his 70s. "My business was getting too big for me, no matter how much energy and time I put into it," he said. A year later, he sold his company for $2 million (around $20 million in today's money), with the proviso that he’d remain on the board as a life-long paid ambassador, and would continue to appear in advertisements.
Business and franchise opportunities were booming, so in the mid-1960s the brand set its sights further afield and became one of the first American fast food chains to open in countries outside of North America. KFC made its debut in Lancashire, England, UK in 1965, while outlets in Jamaica, Germany and Australia all followed over the next few years.
During the 1970s, KFC focused on expanding its meal box offering, beginning with the launch of the Barrel. Intended for sharing, and rebranded as the Bumper Box later on in the decade, customers would receive 21 pieces of chicken, plus sides, and the new menu item was marketed as being ‘perfect for parties’.
In 1974, KFC launched a Japanese marketing campaign called ‘Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii’ (which translates as ‘Kentucky for Christmas’), promoting its fried chicken as a festive meal. The idea apparently came to Takeshi Okawara – the first KFC manager in the country and, a decade later, the company's CEO in Japan – in a dream. The campaign was a huge success, and fried chicken remains a popular Christmas meal there to this day.
In the same year, KFC also introduced a new product – an update on its original chicken recipe which aimed to deliver a crispier batter coating. Despite the item proving popular enough to remain on modern menus, the colonel was outraged by the change. As a result, the older chicken option was officially labelled as Original Recipe, while the new pretender to the fried chicken crown went by the name Extra Crispy.
Colonel Sanders is so synonymous with the brand, it's easy to forget he was a real person rather than just a marketing image, or cartoon likeness on a logo. He was also a real colonel – or, at least, an honorary one. Having lied about his age to enlist in the US Army, serving in Cuba in 1906, he was given the title 29 years later by then-Kentucky governor Ruby Laffoon. Pictured here in 1974 with his wife Claudia at their home in Kentucky, Sanders passed away in December 1980, aged 90. His legend, of course, lives on.
In the 1980s, KFC decided to jazz up its offering with its first chicken sandwich. The Chicken Little Sandwich featured an oblong-shaped, sesame seed-sprinkled bread bun, piece of crispy chicken, mayonnaise and pickles. The sandwich proved to be wildly popular with customers and, after being discontinued, made a much-hyped reappearance on menus in 2012.
Following on from the success of the Chicken Little Sandwich, it made sense to introduce other chicken sandwiches into the mix. The now legendary Zinger, a spicy chicken breast burger served with lettuce and mayonnaise in a toasted sesame seed bun, was born in Trinidad and Tobago, in 1984. One of the chain’s bestselling items, the Zinger is available in more than 120 countries around the world, but didn’t make its debut in the US until 2017.
In 1991, the brand made the bold move to shorten its name to KFC. There remains much debate as to the motivation behind this; some believe that health concerns around fried food were rising and the company wanted to detach itself from the word ‘fried’, while others suggest the name shortening was simply a matter of modernisation and convenience.
The early 1990s saw chicken wings appearing on menus at multiple American fast food chains. McDonald’s started selling Mighty Wings at select locations at the very beginning of the decade, and KFC soon revealed its answer: Hot Wings. Although not as popular as anticipated, the spicy wings garnered enough of a following to earn themselves a place on the permanent menu, where they remain today.
Further menu innovation followed in 1992, with the launch of popcorn chicken. Instead of the classic pieces of bone-in chicken, these were bitesize balls of chicken breast, covered in a crisp batter and served in their own popcorn-inspired boxes. Reviews were mixed; some lamented the lack of meat and feared what the colonel would’ve thought of the item, while others couldn’t get enough.
By the early 1990s, the brand was facing growing pressure over the healthiness (or otherwise) of its food. In a bid to compete with rival chains (McDonald’s included) who were launching similar, non-fried items, KFC introduced the Colonel’s Rotisserie Gold in 1993. Customers could order a whole, half or quarter grilled chicken, served with healthier sides such as garden rice, pasta salad and corn muffins.
The chain introduced a host of grilled chicken options in the late 1990s, including a burger and a tortilla wrap, as well as salad sides. The brand also concentrated on providing lower-calorie choices and reducing salt and fat content, as well as changing its packaging to make calorie information visible to customers.
Fast-forward a few years to 2005 and a legend was born. With its diminutive size – and price tag – the KFC Snacker was a smash hit from the outset. Featuring an extra crispy chicken strip topped with lettuce and mayo and served in a sesame seed bun, it bore more than a passing resemblance to the Chicken Little Sandwich, albeit with a slider-like appearance. Despite being one of the most popular product launches in KFC history – and much to the dismay of its legions of fans – the Snacker was discontinued around 2013.
Shaking things up – quite literally – KFC turned its attention to its beverage range in 2009, with the hugely successful launch of Krushers (or Krushems in the UK). Essentially milkshakes that incorporated fruity and sweet flavours with the option to add-in extras, the drinks were regionalised to different markets. They proved so popular that some branches even installed Krushers bars, where customers could personalise their orders further. While Krushers have been discontinued in a number of countries, they remain a fan favourite in the UK.
It was becoming noticeable that KFC, unlike many other fast food chains, was lacking a breakfast menu. So, in 2016, the chain added regionalised chicken-based breakfast products to its offering. In the UK, this included chicken sandwiches accompanied by bacon, fried eggs and ketchup, while the morning menu in Singapore featured burritos with chicken, tomato, eggs and bacon, and porridge topped with fried chicken pieces.
Never a company to shy away from a marketing challenge, in 2017 KFC announced that it would be sending the first chicken sandwich – the globally famous Zinger – into space. The item was launched into the stratosphere by a high-altitude balloon, where it floated around for four days. The KFC bucket satellite that the burger travelled in even included a golden cassette tape playing Colonel Sanders’ voice.
It all started in 2019, when US fast food chain Popeyes (famed for its southern-style fried chicken) launched a chicken sandwich – and rival brand Chick-fil-A claimed on Twitter that it was the founder of the original. Popeyes responded, and thus the social media 'chicken sandwich wars' began. Keen not to miss out, in 2020 KFC relaunched its upgraded KFC Chicken Sandwich, adding thicker pickles and a toasted-and-buttered brioche bun to the mix, and subsequently marketing the item as the ‘best chicken sandwich ever’.
In what was one of the most hyped fast food collabs to date, in 2020 KFC teamed up with Pizza Hut to gift the world with the Popcorn Chicken Pizza. Customers could buy Pizza Hut’s classic pizza crust base spread with KFC’s famous gravy and topped with mozzarella cheese, KFC popcorn chicken and sweetcorn. While only available for a limited time, it created a serious buzz amongst burger aficionados and pizza lovers alike.
Another collaboration followed, as KFC entered the fashion world and teamed up with footwear brand Crocs. People could purchase a pair of Crocs with a fried chicken print and KFC’s iconic red-and-white stripes along the sole. The shoes allegedly even smelt of fried chicken, and mini plastic fried chicken drumsticks could be added as Jibbitz (charms). Kim Kardashian reportedly purchased a pair.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, KFC made the decision to halt its ‘Finger Lickin’ Good’ slogan, in light of the focus on hygiene and social distancing. The slogan has been used since the 1950s, though was dropped in the 1990s until 2008, due to concerns it made the food sound unhealthily greasy. Then, in 2020, KFC obscured the words on its packaging and halted 'finger lickin' adverts, finally bringing it back in 2021.
In January 2022, KFC teamed up with plant-based protein brand Beyond Meat to launch a Beyond Fried Chicken range. This timely move (the initial product drop took place during Veganuary) meant that vegetarian and vegan customers could buy plant-based imitation chicken products, like a vegan chicken sandwich and vegan chicken nuggets, for the first time. However, KFC did also warn customers that the plant-based chicken would be cooked in the same oil as its regular chicken.
January 2023 saw some exciting secret additions to the KFC menu in Australia. By downloading and using the KFC app, customers were able to discover hidden exclusives and come across discontinued menu favourites including the Triple Stacker Burger (three fillets of crispy chicken and cheese in a burger bun), the Zinger Chipster (spicy chicken and chips in a wrap) and the Fave Crave Box (chicken drumstick, chicken sandwich, fries, gravy and a drink).
More major change followed later in the year, when KFC added chicken nuggets to its permanent menu for the first time ever (yes, really). According to the brand, each hand-breaded, Original Recipe–coated, 100% breast meat morsel is ‘bursting with so much flavor it doesn’t require dipping’, making the 70-year wait for nuggets well worth it. This new innovation did come at a cost, though; in order to make room for the nuggets, popcorn chicken was taken off menus permanently – a move which many longtime fans have mourned. What would the colonel have made of it all?
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