Harland Sanders

 

Harland Sanders was born in 1890 and raised on a farm outside Henryville, Indiana (near Louisville, Kentucky).  When Sanders was five years old, his father died, forcing his mother to work in a cannery.[9]  This left Sanders, as the eldest son, to care for his two younger siblings.[9]  After he reached the age of seven, his mother taught him how to cook.[10]  After leaving the family at home at the age of 13, Sanders went through several professions, with mixed success.[11]  In 1930, he took over a Shell gas station on US Route 25 just outside North Corbin, Kentucky, a small town on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains.[12]  It was here that he first served for travelers the recipes he had learned as a child: fried chicken and other dishes such as steak and village ham.[12] After four years of serving from his own dining room table, Sanders purchased a larger gas station.  across the street and grew to six tables.

By 1963 there were 600 KFC restaurants, making the company the largest fast food operation in the United States.[13]  KFC popularized chicken in the fast food industry, diversifying the market by challenging hamburger dominance.[14]

 In 1964, Sanders sold the company to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown Jr.  and Jack C. Massey for US$2 million (about US$15 million in 2013).[15]  The contract includes a lifetime salary for Sanders and an agreement that he will be the company's trademark and quality controller.  This relationship had reached 3,000 outlets in 48 countries by 1970.[16]  In July 1971, Brown sold the company to Connecticut-based Heublein, a packaged food and beverage company, for US$285 million (about US$1.6 billion in 2013).  Sanders died in 1980, his promotional work made him a prominent figure in American cultural history.  At the time of his death, there were approximately 6,000 KFC outlets in 48 different countries worldwide, with sales of $2 billion per year.[17]

 In 1982, Heublein was acquired by R. J. Reynolds, the tobacco giant.[18]  In July 1986, Reynolds sold KFC to PepsiCo for $850 million (about US$1.8 billion in 2013).  PepsiCo made the chain part of its restaurant division alongside Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.[19]  The Chinese market entered in November 1987, with an outlet in Beijing.[18]

 In 2015, the company struggled, having lost business to another retailer and was eclipsed by Chick-fil-A as the leading chicken retailer in the US three years earlier.  To address this, the company launched a new initiative with plans to change its packaging, decor and uniforms, as well as expand the menu.  Additionally, starting in May 2015, a new series of advertisements was launched featuring Darrell Hammond as Colonel Sanders.  Subsequently, in a planned actor rotation, Norm Macdonald, Jim Gaffigan, George Hamilton and Rob Riggle played Sanders in similar commercials through fall 2016. In January 2018, Country Music icon Reba McEntire was elected KFC's first female Colonel Sanders.[20]