The Colonel and His Chicken: The Recipe for Franchise Success

The world’ most popular chicken restaurant chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken, more widely known as KFC, had humble origins. What started out as a small cooking operation in a gas station in Corbin, Kentucky, is now part of the Yum! Corporation (the world’s largest restaurant system) with more than 11,000 KFCs in over 80 countries around the world.

全球最知名的鸡肉餐厅连锁，即肯塔基炸鸡，人们更常将之称为KFC(肯德基)，起步极低。前身是肯塔基州科尔宾一家加油站的小型料理店，如今是百胜集团(世界上最大的餐饮体系)的一部分，该集团在全世界80多个国家拥有11000多家肯德基连锁店。

Kentucky Fried Chicken was invented by Harland Sanders, who was born in 1890 near Henryville, Indiana. Raised by a single mother, he left home at the age of 12 to work on a farm, and held a series of jobs including painter, streetcar conductor, insurance salesman and service station operator. In 1929, he opened his own gas station in Corbin, Kentucky, where he sometimes cooked meals for his family and an occasional lucky customer. His specialties were southern style dishes his mother had taught him – country ham, homemade biscuits, and of course, pan-fried chicken. He claimed to have a secret recipe for his chicken, and that formula proved to be the key to the future success of his restaurant enterprise.

肯塔基炸鸡的发明人是哈兰德·桑德斯，他生于1890年，出生在印第安纳州的亨利维尔附近。他由母亲独自一人抚养长大，12岁时离家在农场干活，曾先后干过各种工作，例如油漆工、有轨电车售票员、保险推销员和服务站话务员。1929年，他在肯塔基州的科尔宾开了一家自己的加油站，有时候他会在那里会自己的家人做饭，偶尔幸运的顾客也能品尝到他的美食。他最拿手的就是他母亲传授的南方菜式——乡村火腿和自制饼干，当然还有煎锅炸鸡。他说他有自己的炸鸡秘方，而事实证明，该秘方便是他的餐厅企业后来获得成功的关键。

Word got out about Sanders’ delicious chicken, and in response to demand, he opened a 142-seat restaurant across the street from his original station location. He also added a motel – the first in the state. To accommodate large volume, he invented a way to pressure cook his fried chicken, and claimed this contributed to the meat’s taste and texture.

有关桑德斯的美味炸鸡的消息不胫而走，面对这一需求，他在最初加油站位置的街对面开了一家可容纳142人的餐厅。还新开了一家汽车旅馆——这是肯塔基州内的第一家。为了适应大批量的烹制，他发明了用压力锅烹饪炸鸡的方法，并且声称这对鸡肉的味道和肉质有利。

Named “Sanders Court and Café” the café growing wildly popular in the region – so much so, that in 1936, the state Governor granted Sanders the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel.” In 1939, Sanders Court and Café won a designation by Duncan Hine’s Adventures in Good Eating – putting Sanders on the map for travelers.

以“桑德斯街头咖啡馆”命名的这家咖啡店在当地变得广受欢迎——以至于在1936年，州长授予桑德斯“肯塔基上校”的荣誉头衔。1939年，桑德斯街头咖啡馆被邓肯·海恩的冒险选定为美食之旅的一个站点，从而使得桑德斯的咖啡馆出现在旅客的地图上。

World War II and its impact on gas rationing and tourism forced Sanders to close his motel. He intended to re-open after the war, but then got the bad news that a new interstate planned for the area would bypass Corbin, and divert tourist traffic away from his motel and café. Being burdened by debt, he had no choice but to sell the facility.

But the Colonel was convinced his chicken recipe was a winner, so he took to the road to sell his chicken to restaurant owners. His plan was to sign up franchisees who would pay him five cents for each piece of chicken sold that was prepared with his secret recipe. The first Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchise was opened by Sanders and Pete Harman in South Salt Lake, Utah in 1952.

不过，上校相信他的炸鸡配方仍然有市场，所有他开始向餐厅老板出售他的炸鸡。他的计划是签约受许人，特许人出钱购买用他的秘方制好的鸡肉，每售出一块鸡肉5美分。1952年，桑德斯和皮特·哈曼在犹他州的盐湖城南部开设了第一家肯塔基炸鸡连锁加盟店。

By the early 60s, the Colonel’s chicken was sold in over 600 restaurants throughout the US and Canada. The first international Kentucky Fried Chicken opened in 1964 in England. In this same year, having accomplished his goal to get out of debt and start a successful restaurant chain, Sanders sold his Company to a group of investors for $2 million (about $10 million in today’s currency). The sale brought Sanders additional riches too – he signed on for an annual salary of $40,000 to act as the Company spokesman.

截至60年代初，上校炸鸡已经销往美国和加拿大的600多家餐厅。1964年，第一家跨国肯塔基炸鸡店在英格兰营业。同年，在实现了清偿债务以及成功创办餐厅连锁的目标之后，桑德斯以200万美元的价格(相当于如今的1000万美元)将自己的公司卖给了一群投资者。这次出售也给桑德斯带来额外的财富——他以年薪40000美元的酬劳签约担任这家公司的代言人。

The Company went public in 1966 and was listed on the NYSE in 1969.

1966年，该公司的股票上市，1969年在纽约证券交易所(NYSE)挂牌上市。

The Secret to Success

Through the years, the recipe for KFC’s unique tasty chicken has been a closely guarded secret. The original handwritten version is kept in a vault and the Company supposedly works with two different spice suppliers for various ingredients so that no one person knows the exact final formula. The Colonel himself promoted the secret recipe as the basis for the crowd-pleasing chicken. He appeared in television commercials, extolling the chicken’s finger-licking taste and the value of families eating dinner together as a way promote KFC’s “bucket” concept along with side dishes to make a complete meal. At one point, he was referred to as “greatest PR man ever” in Business Week article.

多年来，肯德基独一无二的美味炸鸡配方一直都是受严格保护的机密。最初的手写配方被锁在保险库里，按照推测，该公司会和两家不同的香料供应商合作，购买各种各样的食材，确保没有人确切地知道最终秘方。上校自己将这一秘方推崇为制作受大众欢迎的炸鸡的基础。他出现在电视广告上，赞美炸鸡的吮指回味以及家人坐在一起吃饭的价值观，以此推广肯德基与配菜搭配组成一套全餐的“桶”概念。他曾一度被《商业周刊》称为“史上最了不起的公关先生”。

No longer a “one-man operation” KFC grew to 3,400 fast food outlets by 1970. In 1971, it merged with Heublein, Inc., a specialty food and alcohol beverage Company. And though the chain had grown so much in a span of less than twenty years, it now faced some stiff competition from other fast Food Franchises. Heublein made substantial investments to upgrade and modernize the standard red-and-white buildings. Experimentation with other offerings, such as ribs, came up short; so KFC went back to its roots of preparing crispy chicken according to the Colonel’s original recipe.

截至1970年，不再是“一人经营式”肯德基发展到了3400家快餐店。1971年，它与一家特色食品和酒精饮料公司——休伯莱恩有限公司合并。虽然这一连锁机构在短短不到20年的时间里发展如此迅速，但是如今它面临着与其他快餐连锁加盟的激烈竞争。休伯莱恩耗巨资对标准的红白建筑进行升级和现代化改良。尝试提供其他食物，例如排骨只是昙花一现;所以，肯德基回归到它的原点，按照上校最初的配方制作酥脆炸鸡。

Harland Sanders died of leukemia in 1980. After the Colonel’s death, the Company underwent several mergers and acquisitions. In 1982, Heublein was acquired by R.J. Reynolds; and in 1986, PepsiCo, the operator of Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, acquired Kentucky Fried Chicken.

1980年，哈兰德·桑德斯因白血病病逝。上校离世之后，这家公司经历几次兼并与收购。1982年，R.J.·雷诺兹获得了休伯莱恩的经营权;1986年，披萨小屋和塔可钟的经营者百事可乐公司收购了肯塔基炸鸡。

One interesting and unique development in KFC’s history was the drive to establish successful relations with franchisees. In 1972, the Corporation organized the National Franchise Advisory council to improve the franchising contract. The National Purchasing Co-Op was formed in 1979 to ensure franchisees a better deal on Company equipment and supplies. These advisory councils made KFC a more democratic organization that valued input from its franchisees and helped to maintain consistent operations as the Company went through various mergers and acquisitions.

肯德基历史上一项有趣而独特的发展便是成功与受许人之间建立合作关系。1972年，该企业组织成立国内连锁加盟咨询委员会以改善连锁加盟合约。1979年，国家采购合作社成立，以确保受许人能够更好地处理公司设备和供应品的交易。这些咨询委员会使得肯德基成为了一个更加民主的机构，重视受许人的投入而且在该公司经历多次兼并与并购时帮助保持经营运作的一致性。

Recognized Around the World

When the competition for fast-food customers grew especially fierce in the 80s and 90s, KFC executed a series of creative and successful marketing strategies in response to consumer trends. 1981 saw the launch of a memorable marketing campaign, based on a new catchy motto, “We Do Chicken Right.” Eventually, the packaging was updated with contemporary graphics, and the Colonel’s image made more stylized. The restaurant name was shortened to the familiar KFC as a way to de-emphasize frying in response to public health concerns. And in 2007, the Company introduced a new recipe that has zero transfats per serving in response to the health warnings about the harmful effects of transfats.

80年代和90年代，围绕快餐顾客的竞争变得尤为激烈，肯德基采取了一系列创新而且成功的市场营销策略来应对这些消费者趋势。1981年，在朗朗上口的新口号“烹鸡专家”的基础上，一场令人难忘的市场营销活动开展起来。最终，包装更新为当代图案，而且上校的形象变得更具风格。餐厅的名字被缩短为众人所熟知的KFC，从而不再强调煎炸，以此响应公众对健康的关注。2007年，为了响应有关转化脂肪有害的健康预警，该公司引入了一种不含转化脂肪的新配方。

KFC claims (though this is disputed by Readymix) to have the first logo visible from space – built from 65,000 square foot tiles, which were placed in the Mojave Desert in Nevada. At one time, Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, operated several KFC franchises, and is credited with designing the revolving bucket of chicken that once decorated almost all stores.

肯德基宣称(虽然这遭到Readymix的反驳)拥有首个从太空中可见的商标——该商标位于内华达州的莫哈维沙漠，由65000平方英尺瓷砖拼贴而成。曾有一度，温蒂公司的创始人戴维·托马斯经营着多家肯德基连锁加盟店，有人认为他企图换掉曾经几乎装饰在所有连锁店中的旋转炸鸡桶。

Though competition in the US was challenging, international growth was explosive for KFC in the late 80s and early 90s. Asia, where chicken is widely consumed, proved especially profitable with sales growing at about 30 percent a year. 1987 marked a real milestone -- KFC was the first American fast-food chain to open in the Peoples’ Republic of China. In 2007, there were more than 1,800 KFCs operating in over 400 cities throughout China.

尽管美国国内的竞争极具挑战性，但是在80年代末90年代初，肯德基在国际上获得了爆炸性的增长。事实证明，鸡肉消耗量比较大的亚洲市场尤为赚钱，销量以每年约30%的速度增长。1987年是真正具有划时代意义的一年——肯德基成为了首个在中华人民共和国开设快餐连锁店的美国公司。2007年，中国400多个城市中肯德基经营店达1800多家。

In 1997, PepsicCo spun off its fast-food holdings – KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell – to form Tricon ，Global Restaurants, Inc. That Company was acquired by Yum! Brands in 2002, and KFC maintains its status as the dominant fast-food chicken restaurant in the world.

1997年，百事可乐公司抛售了其快餐食品的股份(其中包括肯德基、披萨小屋和塔可钟)，成立了三康全球餐饮有限公司。2002年，该公司被百胜集团收购，而肯德基仍然是世界首要快餐炸鸡餐厅。

The Colonel was right about his winning recipe, but it wasn’t taste alone that led to success. Shrewd marketing, smart international expansion, and sound business practices underlie the phenomenal global growth of KFC.

上校是对的，他的食谱大获全胜，但是成功靠的并非只有味道。聪明的市场营销、巧妙的国际扩张以及非凡的商务实践为肯德基的全球大发展奠定了基础。