The interesting fate of Colonel Sanders. KFC is... What is KFC

Garland David Sanders(eng. Harland David Sanders), better known by the pseudonym Colonel Sanders (September 9, 1890 - December 16, 1980) - founder of the Kentucky fast food restaurant chain Fried Chicken (Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC).

Colonel Sanders was the first to turn chicken frying into a multimillion-dollar business in 1952. His signature recipe is pieces of fried chicken in batter, seasoned with a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices. His stylized portrait is traditionally depicted on all restaurants of his chain and on branded packaging. In fact, Sanders was never an army officer. Rank of "Colonel" is an honorary title awarded annually by the governor of a state for outstanding service in public life state.

So, Are you ready to hear his difficult life story? Go:

Harlan Sanders was born on September 9, 1890 in small town Henryville in the US state of Indiana. Garlan's dad earned his living by doing auxiliary work for local farmers. He earned little, but his mother could afford to look after the children. But when Sanders turned six years old father died suddenly. To feed the children, the mother had to go to work, and little Garlan remained at home all day in charge of younger brother and sister. This life revealed his real talent for cooking. In just a few months, Sanders learned to cook all the family's popular dishes. There was no question of studying in such a situation. Garlan had no time to attend school regularly and no money to go to college. At 10 he got a job as a worker on a nearby farm with a monthly salary of $2. Two years later, his mother remarried, and Garlan was sent out of sight to work on a farm in the nearby town of Greenwood. IN 14 years Sanders dropped out of school completely. In total, he studied there for six classes - this was the only systematic education in his life.

From that moment on, Sanders led a semi-vagrant life, changing his activities and habitats as soon as he became tired of them. Having given up at the age of 15 Agriculture, He got a job as a tram conductor in New Albany, Indiana. At 16 years old, he enlisted in the American army and went to serve as a private in Cuba, which was then actually an American colony. Garlan fled from there six months later to become blacksmith's assistant. But there, in his opinion, the pay was clearly not enough for a decent existence. Then he got a job as a fireman on a steam locomotive to the railway company. Everything went so well there that Garlan even plucked up the courage to propose to Claudia, who accepted the proposal. Soon they had their first child - and then Sanders was fired. However, Claudia loved Garlan enough to heroically endure his constant rushing from one job to another.

At one time, Sanders even decided to engage in mental work - he enrolled in correspondence law courses and got a job practicing in court. His career as a lawyer ended after his first case. At the trial he got into a fight with his client. The Bar Association stripped him of his license.

After that, and until the age of 40, Garlan tried other occupations: insurance agent, furniture mover, Ohio River ferry captain, salesman car tires and a car mechanic.

Mine He celebrated his 40th birthday in deep depression: his youth passed, and somehow it turned out naturally that he had neither his own home nor even permanent job. At that moment, he heard on the radio a speech by the then famous comedian Will Rogers, who said in his humoresque that “life begins only at the age of forty.” Garlan later said that “that radio broadcast changed my life.” From now on, he decided to work only for himself, since he had small savings.

In 1930, in the city of Corbin, Kentucky, Sanders opened his own auto repair shop. He chose the place not by chance: his enterprise was located right on the side of Federal Highway 25, connecting the Northern states with Florida. This provided him with a constant flow of clients. Garlan and his family lived right there, in several living rooms at the auto repair shop.

Things slowly got going, and soon Sanders decided to offer the road-weary visitors some food, especially he loved to cook. He prepared the food himself in his home kitchen, and the room for clients could only accommodate one dining table and six chairs. The basis of the modest menu was fried chicken, which Garlan was especially successful at.

In 1935 Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon accepted him as a member of the honorary "Order of Kentucky Colonels" with the wording “for contribution to the development of roadside Catering».

With the money he saved, Sanders began building a motel and restaurant with 142 seats near his auto repair shop. The establishment looked very much like a neat German farmstead.

The opening took place in 1937 under the sign of Sanders Court & Cafe (Sanders Motel and Cafe). Sanders appeared in front of visitors in a luxurious white suit with a black bow tie.

There was no end to visitors now. When in 1939 the establishment burned down, Garlan rebuilt it in a couple of months.

But soon life began to crack again– the construction of a new highway was completed, onto which the entire stream that had previously passed by Garlan’s auto repair shop was driven.

It would seem like a failure again, his age is no longer young - 62 years old, Garlan has almost given up.
And then came to his aid... fried chicken! Yes, that’s right, he tensed up, packed his suitcase and went to drive around to nearby restaurants with a single phrase: “I can cook fried chicken better than you.” He was refused again and again, an excellent cook in his advanced years was suspiciously examined from head to toe and was often not even allowed on the threshold. Let's mentally put ourselves in the shoes of a restaurant owner. You successful business, and then one fine sunny day a rusty wreck drives up to your establishment, from which some strange old man comes out and invites you to first buy a chicken recipe from him, and then pay him money every month. Naturally, you ask him:
– Perhaps you are a famous chef?
“No, I’m not a cook,” the strange grandfather will answer.
- Oh, I see, you - owner of a chain of successful restaurants, and are you expanding it?
– I don’t have restaurants. There was one, but I went broke,” the pensioner honestly admits.
“Well, now I understand,” you guess. - You - renowned cookbook publisher.
– No, I’m a simple person and I only have one chicken recipe.

It took a long time before he was able to find his first customer. Some sources claim that he visited 1006 restaurants before concluding the first contract. Under the terms of the agreement, Sanders received only 5 cents for each of his chickens at each restaurant. Not bad, considering that order volumes were constantly growing. Needless to say, already in the early 60s, several hundred US restaurants were clients of Garlan Sanders.

And then Garland Sanders’ wish came true - he realized himself 100%. He found his favorite job, completely surrendering to your talent. He made others believe in themselves!

When he was 70 years old, Kentucky Fried Chicken reached the peak of its fame, and the old colonel decides to sell the company to private investors for $2 million and the position of company representative (brand face), for which he was paid about 250 thousand dollars a year.

In 1980, at the age of 90, Garlan Sanders died.

In recent years, he has devoted quite a lot to himself - traveling, playing golf, and running his own restaurant, Claudia Sanders’ Dinner House, with his wife.

Five steps to a million

1. Farmer, streetcar conductor, American Army private, blacksmith's assistant, locomotive fireman, law student, insurance agent, furniture mover, ferry captain, tire salesman, and auto mechanic.

2. At 40, life is just beginning: Sanders decided to work for himself and opened his own auto repair shop... which sold fried chicken best of all.

3. At the age of 47, he followed the lead of his clients and opened his own restaurant.

4. At the age of 62, Colonel Sanders went completely broke when a new state highway passed away from his establishment.

5. Once again, pensioner Sanders began selling a franchise for the technology for preparing his fried chicken. And he became a millionaire at the age of 70.

Colonel Sanders is the man Americans are trying to emulate. He rose out of poverty and became a millionaire, making his dream come true.

Family and childhood

David Harland Sanders was born in Henryville, Indiana on September 9, 1890. At the age of six, the boy suddenly loses his beloved father. Financial difficulties forcing the mother to go to work in order to earn a piece of bread.

A small child becomes the eldest in the family and takes responsibility for raising his younger brother and sister. Exactly at this period life, the guy discovers the endless world of cooking. Family and relatives noted the child’s ability to cook, but only decades later would Sanders’ culinary skills bring real profit.

Difficulties of life and first love

Soon mom falls in love and gets married. David has to earn his own money. The guy changes dozens of jobs, masters several professions. Sanders worked as a tire salesman, insurance agent, farmer, locomotive fireman, auto mechanic, ferry captain, and conductor. However, not a single specialty was to my liking. The only area of ​​activity that was remembered young man- fireman. During this period of his life, David meets and falls in love with a beautiful girl, Claudia, who will support him throughout his married life.

On the way to success

Most of his life passes, Sanders is forty years old, he is disappointed in life. A constant lack of money and lack of prospects force a man to change his worldview. Harland decides to open his own business - a car service on the highway connecting the north and south of the country. The auto repair shop was in great demand among car owners. The company began to make good profits.

While working in the workshop, Sanders notices a trend that will make him millions in the future. Most auto tourists travel hungry. David decides to open a mini canteen next to the workshop, where he fries chicken himself, flavoring the dishes with unique seasonings of his own making.

Why "Colonel"?

Fried chicken was extremely popular. Family budget The Sanders have added another source of income. David's chicken was so beloved by Americans that it was called the "National Dish of the State." As a reward, Sanders receives the title of “Kentucky Colonel” from the governor.

Hope and Perseverance

Soon white stripe life ends. The authorities built a new highway, which was preferred by most of David's clients. The entrepreneur finally despairs, because he is already 62 years old. He is again trying to gather his thoughts in order to determine a strategy for getting out of the current crisis.

The solution comes naturally - fried chicken comes to the rescue again. A businessman packs his bags to travel around America. He visits restaurants and catering establishments, where he offers his own unique recipe fried chicken. The elderly cook is constantly turned down.

History of success

After several months of fruitless wandering, Sanders finds his first client, who offered David 5 cents for every chicken sold. The entrepreneur agrees and continues to travel around the United States with his culinary offer. In the early 60s, Sanders' chicken was sold in hundreds of restaurants across America.

Finally, David realized himself as a businessman. He is completely satisfied with the results of his activities, having devoted himself to unsurpassed culinary talent. At 70 years old trademark Kentucky Fried Chicken hits the peak of popularity, and Colonel Sanders sells the brand to international investors for two million dollars. The new owners persuade David to remain as head of marketing and sales, and he agrees.

The end of life's journey

Sanders Harland died at age 90 in 1980. The colonel devoted the rest of his life to relaxation - having fun, playing golf, and traveling a lot. He and his wife also developed their new restaurant, Claudia Sanders’ Dinner House. All the entrepreneur’s dreams came true - he managed to fill his life with meaning and become happy.

The History of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)

Harland David Sanders, better known by his pseudonym Colonel Sanders (September 9, 1890 - December 16, 1980), was the founder of the fast food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). ), He was the first to turn chicken frying into a multi-million dollar business in 1952. His signature recipe is pieces of batter-fried chicken seasoned with a mixture of aromatic herbs and spices. His stylized portrait is traditionally depicted on all restaurants of his chain and on branded packaging. In fact, Sanders was never an army officer. The rank of "Colonel" is an honorary title awarded annually by the Governor of a state for distinguished service in the public life of the state.

He completed only six grades, and fried his first chickens at the age of six. He opened his own restaurant only at the age of 47, and his fried chicken became the culinary symbol of the state of Kentucky.

The year 1945 was eventful: it capitulated fascist Germany, the Americans dropped atomic bomb to Japan, and the discoverer of penicillin, Alexander Fleming, was awarded the Nobel Prize.

But everything was calm in the life of 55-year-old Garlan Sanders, who ran a small restaurant under the same roof as a motel in the American state of Kentucky. Sanders had lived a troubled life and now enjoyed peace and stability. He loved to cook - and his food was considered the best in the state. He wanted to have own house and family - he lived in his own motel, and the whole family loved the fried chicken he cooked. His vanity was fully satisfied with the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel” (analogous to our title of honorary citizen). And now Sanders reasonably believed that it would be too presumptuous of him to want more. When well-fed and satisfied visitors asked Garlan if he was thinking of opening a second restaurant somewhere, Sanders smiled and said that he was too old for such adventures.

Conductor, private, fireman, loader, car mechanic

Harlan Sanders was born on September 9, 1890 in the small town of Henryville in the US state of Indiana. Garlan's dad earned his living by doing auxiliary work for local farmers. He earned little, but his mother could afford to look after the children. But when Sanders was six years old, his father died suddenly. To feed the children, the mother had to go to work, and little Garlan remained at home all day in charge with his younger brother and sister. This life revealed his real talent for cooking. In just a few months, Sanders learned to cook all the family's popular dishes. There was no question of studying in such a situation. Garlan had no time to attend school regularly, and no money for college. At the age of 10, he got a job as a worker on a nearby farm with a monthly salary of $2. Two years later, his mother remarried, and Garlan was sent out of sight to work on a farm in the nearby town of Greenwood. At the age of 14, Sanders dropped out of school completely. In total, he studied there for six classes - this was the only systematic education in his life.

From that moment on, Sanders led a semi-vagrant life, changing his activities and habitats as soon as he became tired of them. Having abandoned farming at the age of 15, he got a job as a tram conductor in New Albany, Indiana. At the age of 16, he enlisted in the American army and went to serve as a private in Cuba, which was then actually an American colony. Garlan fled from there six months later to become a blacksmith's assistant. But there, in his opinion, the pay was clearly not enough for a decent existence. Then he got a job as a locomotive fireman for a railway company. Everything went so well there that Garlan even plucked up the courage to propose to Claudia, who accepted the proposal. Soon they had their first child - and then Sanders was fired. However, Claudia loved Garlan enough to stoically endure his constant rushing from one job to another.

At one time, Sanders even decided to engage in mental work - he enrolled in correspondence law courses and got a job practicing in court. However, after a few months he became bored with this activity. After that, and until age 40, Garlan tried other jobs as an insurance agent, furniture mover, Ohio River ferry captain, tire salesman, and auto mechanic.

"Order of Kentucky Colonels"

So, unbeknownst to himself, Sanders approached the fifth decade. He celebrated his 40th birthday in deep depression: his youth was gone, and somehow it turned out that he didn’t have his own home, or even a permanent job. At that moment, he heard on the radio a speech by the then famous comedian Will Rogers, who said in his humoresque that “life begins only at the age of forty.” Garlan later said that “that radio broadcast changed my life.” From now on, he decided to work only for himself, since he had small savings.

In 1930, Sanders opened his own auto repair shop in Corbin, Kentucky. He chose the place not by chance: his enterprise was located right on the side of Federal Highway 25, connecting the Northern states with Florida. This provided him with a constant flow of clients. Garlan and his family lived right there, in several living rooms at the auto repair shop.

Things slowly got going, and soon Sanders decided to offer the road-weary visitors some food, especially since he loved to cook. He prepared the food himself in his home kitchen, and the room for clients could only accommodate one dining table and six chairs. The basis of the modest menu was fried chicken, which Garlan was especially successful at. Soon Sanders had his own regulars, and a year later Garlan was somewhat surprised to discover that his miserable eatery brought in the lion's share of the enterprise's income. Then he called his chicken "Garlan Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken, seasoned with 11 herbs and spices" and hung a sign above the entrance to the workshop. That's how Sanders' home cooking got its name. There were also technical innovations. Customers at Sanders's diner were often in a hurry, and the 30 minutes it took to fry a chicken in a frying pan seemed prohibitively long to Garlan. He found a solution when he attended a promotional demonstration of new pressure cooking pots that had just appeared - pressure cookers. Having bought one for himself, Sanders learned how to cook incredibly juicy chicken in just 15 minutes. Spices and pressure cookers became the main secrets of cooking "Kentucky chicken."

For the first time in his life, Garlan was completely satisfied with his work. Of course: he was paid money for his culinary hobby, and no one in the whole world could fire him now. And the fame of his chickens grew and spread. By the mid-1930s, everyone driving along Highway 25 perceived them as the “national” dish of Kentucky. This was Sanders’s first and, perhaps, most important success in the field of introducing his product into the wilds of public consciousness. The success is all the more remarkable because Sanders had only six classes behind him, unfinished correspondence courses in law and a bunch of working professions.

Be that as it may, in 1935, the Governor of Kentucky, Ruby Laffoon, accepted him as a member of the honorary “Order of Kentucky Colonels” with the wording “for his contribution to the development of roadside catering.”

The title of colonel, albeit an honorary one, fueled Garlan's deeply hidden vanity. Now he began to build a motel and restaurant with 142 seats near his auto repair shop. The establishment looked very much like a neat German farmstead.

The opening took place in 1937 under the sign of Sanders Court & Cafe (Sanders Motel and Cafe). Sanders appeared in front of visitors in a luxurious white suit with a black bow tie. The nostalgic image of a real colonel of the slaveholding South was completed with snow-white gray hair and a wedge beard.

This character was a success with the public, and from now on Sanders appeared in his restaurant only in this white suit. There was no end to clients now. The number of chickens sold can be judged by the fact that the famous Sanders seasoning was required in bags. “In those days, I mixed my seasoning like you would mix cement,” Sanders said. “On the clean concrete floor in the back room of my cafe, I mixed flour and spices with a shovel.”

This was Sanders' golden time, and trouble only invigorated him. When the establishment burned down in 1939, Garlan rebuilt it within a couple of months. And in the same year, the famous food critic Duncan Hines first mentioned it in his restaurant guide, In Search of Good Food. There, the Colonel's chickens were listed as a special attraction in Kentucky.

Fortune of nickels

The years flew by in pleasant troubles, and Sanders was already counting on a calm old age, when his life once again presented an unpleasant surprise. At the very beginning of the 1950s, the new Federal Highway 75 was completed from northern states to Florida, which passed away from Corbyn. The flow of clients that began 20 years ago dried up overnight. Sanders floundered for another year, but in 1952 he no longer had enough money to support the restaurant and had to be auctioned off to pay off creditors. At 62, Sanders was once again without a job, a home, or money. The only thing he could count on was a state old-age pension - $105 a month.

To Garlan's credit, he took this disaster as an opportunity to feel 22 years younger, returning to his old life as a tumbleweed. He began to visit cafes and restaurants: first the nearby ones, then he got further and further from home. He carried with him a bag of his magic seasoning and his favorite pressure cooker. Arriving at the restaurant, Sanders asked permission to cook “Kentucky chicken” in front of the owner in 15 minutes, and then offered to put this chicken on the menu, promising an uninterrupted supply of his spice mixture. In exchange, he asked for 5 cents for each "Kentucky chicken" sold. Sanders did not sign any agreements - the deal was sealed with a handshake.

Driving from city to city by car is not an easy task, especially when not every restaurant agreed to cooperate. Sanders found his first partner only in Salt Lake City. It was the owner of the restaurant, Pete Harman.

And Garlan continued with stupid persistence to visit more and more restaurants. During this time, his wife stayed home to prepare the seasoning and distribute it to partner restaurants. "Claudia would take orders, pack the spice into small bags and ship them to customers on the overnight train," Sanders said. By the end of the 1950s, more than 200 eateries in the United States and Canada were selling “Kentucky fried chicken.” “Business was slow at first, but over time things began to pick up. I began to understand how Mr. Woolworth was able to organize such a large chain of his penny stores,” Sanders said, laughing. “Those nickels accumulate and grow into a fortune!”

Why should a millionaire work?

However, the business built by Sanders also had a significant drawback - it relied on Garlan himself, who was already over 70. The colonel personally sold franchises, was involved in marketing the network, and even tried to check every bag of spices. The heirs did not want to deal with chicken professionally. In general, when Sanders was offered to sell the Kentucky Fried Chicken business in 1964, he agreed.

The buyers were a pool of investors led by John Brown Jr., the future governor of Kentucky. They paid Garlan $2 million for the entire company in February 1964. At that time, the company had more than 600 franchises in the USA and Canada. Sanders also remains the company's public spokesman, earning a salary of $250,000 a year.

Although the colonel was now something of a Santa Claus in a white suit, he did his job honestly. He flew to all the countries where KFC establishments were now opening, and his luxurious limousine often visited children's parties. If he was asked why a millionaire should work in old age, he usually grinned: “There is no reason to be a rich man in a cemetery. Lying there, you cannot do business.”

At 84, he published his autobiography, Life as I have known it has been finger licking good. Having fulfilled this sacred duty of any successful American to society, he calmly, as he had dreamed all his life, lived for another six years, indulging in harmless pleasures, for example, playing masterful golf. The only thing that poisoned his life was the current "Kentucky Fried Chicken". “Everyone in the company is too carried away with commerce and cooks who knows what from chickens,” he once said in an interview. However, for his soul he still had his own restaurant, Claudia Sanders "Dinner House (he sold the right to his name in the name along with the business), where he always personally monitored the technology of cooking chicken. Garlan Sanders died of leukemia on December 16, 1980, when he was 90. The colonel was buried in his famous white suit with a black bow tie.

KFC restaurants are now open in many cities around the world.

What know-how did Sanders offer his franchisees?

1. A special seasoning of 11 herbs and spices for marinating chicken.

2. Technology for cooking chicken in a pressure cooker - the cooking time has been reduced from 30 to 15 minutes.

Five steps to a million

1. Farmer, streetcar conductor, American Army private, blacksmith's assistant, locomotive fireman, law student, insurance agent, furniture mover, ferry captain, tire salesman, and auto mechanic.

2. At 40, life is just beginning: Sanders decided to work for himself and opened his own auto repair shop... which sold fried chicken best of all.

3. At the age of 47, he followed the lead of his clients and opened his own restaurant.

4. At the age of 62, Colonel Sanders went completely broke when a new state highway passed away from his establishment.

5. Once again, pensioner Sanders began selling a franchise for the technology for preparing his fried chicken. And he became a millionaire at the age of 70.

Secret materials

The hype around the secret to Garlan Sanders' famous 11-herb and spice chicken seasoning continues. “Fast Food” host Gloria Pitzer once told Sanders on television that she had made a very similar seasoning using three cups of flour, a tablespoon of paprika, two packets of bouillon powder and two packets of Seven Seas seasoning. The colonel laughed: “You are a real cook!” Also, several books have already been published in the United States, the authors of which provide their own versions of the “Sanders seasoning.” KFC itself is adding fuel to the fire. The company officially claims that the entire recipe is known only to a few people in management, and the list itself never leaves a specially guarded safe.

Colonel's first pressure cooker

Still in the museum at the KFC Restaurant Supply Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

Resurrected

A few years after the death of Garlan Sanders, KFC launched commercials, in which the colonel is very similar to the original. Members of his family even said that when they saw them, they experienced superstitious horror.

Old Mason

Garlan Sanders has been a member of the Masonic Lodge since 1917. His grave is marked by a bust sculpted by his daughter Margaret. It has images of a Masonic square and compasses.

(English: Harland David Sanders)

in 1890 in a poor large family.
Because Sanders' parents
worked from dawn to dawn, Garlan
acted as a nanny for his
younger brothers. He had to
clean the house, educate
brothers, and even cook. Quite possibly,
what exactly manifested itself in him in childhood
talent for cooking.

short biography

However, life is full of difficulties and hardships
(there wasn’t enough money in the family), didn’t leave time
to develop the boy's culinary abilities, and he decided to look for

a better destiny for yourself outside the home. After sixth grade

Sanders

drops out of school and goes looking for work on his own. But the search for your
fate takes him no less than 25 years.

Over the years, Sanders has managed to try the profession of a trader
car tires, professional military man, conductor in
tram, farm laborer, newspaper delivery boy, fireman
railway etc. And only at the age of 40, having collected some money, he
finally, opens his own business- a car repair shop on the side of a large
motorways.

The very favorable location of the auto repair shop provided Sanders with
a constant influx of customers and, after some time, the premises
workshop, a snack bar began operating that served fried

chickens, cooked

according to the recipe by Garlan Sanders

The chickens became famous throughout the state, and business went uphill...

5 years after the opening of the auto repair shop, in 1935, Governor

state Kentucky for special services to the state, awarded

Sanders

title of "colonel"

(something like honorary citizen of the state). AND

This is not surprising. After all, by that time "

Garlan's fried chicken

Sanders

» has already acquired the status of a national treasure of the state

the diner is also a motel underneath own name. Money flowed like a river, and
it seemed that the long-awaited success had come forever, and the happy
the colonel's old age was assured. Alas, this turned out not to be the case.

In the fifties, a new modern highway opens
of national importance, which took over the entire transport

flow from the northern US and everyone potential clients establishments

Garlana

Sanders

Business began to melt before our eyes. Sanders was forced to sell

everything he had, including the house in which he lived.

But he was not going to give up so easily. The colonel has the main thing left -
his fried chicken recipe. Sixty-seven year old
Sanders began touring restaurant after restaurant, city after city, state
per state, and offer your recipe in exchange for a share from each
sold chicken. A lot of time has passed, the states are behind us
Illinois, Maine, Ohio, Indiana before he could conclude
the first contract, according to the terms of which he received only 5
cents from each portion of chicken sold according to his
recipe. But things went well.

Soon, many restaurants agreed to repurpose their menus
exclusively for the sale of “Colonel Sanders chickens.” Thus was born

Kentucky Fried Chicken

After only 4 years, under the sign “

KFC

» several hundred worked

restaurants all over the country, and

Kentucky Fried Chicken brand

the language of all fast food lovers in the USA.

Died Garlan Sanders rich man in 1980 (he was 90 then)

years). Today

KFC snack bars

work all over the world, and the logo with

the image of the colonel personifies that perseverance and
perseverance, without which success in any business is simply impossible.

Based on materials: Wikipedia, ru.wikipedia.org

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

American chain of fast food restaurants. Specializes in chicken meat, as her name indicates - Kentucky Fried Chicken(Kentucky Fried Chicken). From the name you can immediately understand where this brand comes from. The company's headquarters are located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States.

Telling the story of the brand KFC, it is impossible not to at least briefly tell the biography of its founder, best known as Colonel Sanders. David Sanders was born September 9, 1890. His childhood was difficult, and the family situation forced David to leave home when he was still a boy. He forged documents and enlisted in the US Army at age 16. After completing his service, he wandered a lot around the country and during these wanderings he learned a lot, including how to cook a wide variety of dishes. At the age of 40, he opened a gas station in the town of Corbin (Kentucky), where he treated customers fried chicken, prepared according to own recipe, containing a specific set of herbs and spices. It was this dish that was destined to play decisive role in the fate of Sanders. Visitors to the gas station liked the dish and they increasingly began to come in specifically to eat, and not just to refuel their cars.

Sanders realized that he had attacked gold mine. He improved the recipe (the chicken began to be fried under pressure) and moved to a larger premises; and then even larger. It is noteworthy that in those years the Great Depression was raging in the United States. By 1950, he was already so popular in Kentucky that he was even awarded the title of Kentucky Colonel, awarded to him personally by the governor of the state. It was then that the image that is depicted on the logo today crystallized KFC.

In 1955, the first problems began - the popularity of the Colonel's restaurants began to decline. But Sanders was not at a loss, and having found cash, began to expand their number, actively introducing franchising. The effect was not long in coming. In 1964, at the age of 74, David Sanders sold his business to Kentucky businessmen for almost $2 million (by that time the number of restaurants had already exceeded 600). Interestingly, at the same time he retained the right to Canadian franchises and long time didn't go out of business.

The Colonel died in 1980, having lived 90 years. It’s interesting that they buried him in the famous white suit, which for so many years personified the image of the founder KFC. By the way, the image of Colonel Sanders has become so remarkable that he has already been played out many times in popular culture. He's almost as recognizable as Ronald McDonald the clown

After the death of the founder, the company was resold several times. Owners KFC there were companies like R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company And PepsiCo .

In 1991, it was decided to shorten the name to an abbreviation of three letters. And since 1997 KFC owned by an American corporation Yum! Brands, specializing in food products (also owns brands