All KFC articles – Page 7
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OpinionPeter Martin: How to make friends, and influence the right people
The prime minister is safely back in Downing Street, and there are more signs of life in the out-of-home market as the likes of Burger King, Pret a Manger and KFC take tentative steps to reopen sites. But for much of the hospitality and leisure sector the outlook remains uncertain and confusing. Last week’s pronouncement by chief medical officer Chris Whitty that “disruptive” social distancing is likely to be a feature of day-to-day life even until the end of the year, did nothing to calm the nerves of an already under pressure industry.
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NewsEditor’s Opinion: Hang tight and plan your return
The coronavirus continues to wreak havoc. It’s claimed hundreds of thousands of lives around the world and numbers continue to rise. As dreadful as that is, the long term socio-economic impact is more disturbing. The virus has created a level of disruption to health, society, and the economy that’s never happened before, outside of wartime. And while there is plenty of speculation on how life in general may get back to normal post-lockdown, with vaguely optimistic or pessimistic dates floating around, there is no clarity on how or when this might end.
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NewsTimeline: How the coronavirus crisis unfolded
Here are just some of the twists and turns over the last few weeks. If you want to read all the MCA coverage of the coronavirus crisis click here.
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NewsDeliveroo NHS campaign raises £1.5m
A Deliveroo campaign to feed NHS staff has raised more than £1.5m, which will go towards its pledge to provide 500,000 free meals.
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NewsKFC reopens select delivery-only sites
KFC has reopened several restaurants for delivery only, with further reopenings planned in the coming weeks.
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NewsYum Brands raises fresh capital, launches employee support funds
Yum Brands, the global operator of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, has raised fresh capital from bond investors, allowing the company to increase its size by $100m (to $600m).
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NewsLoungers, Fuller’s and BRG announce closures, to-go transitions continue
Loungers is the latest operator to announce an estate-wide temporary restaurant closure due to the impact of COVID-19, and Fuller’s will close all London pubs.
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InterviewsKFC’s Jo Tivers: “I love pickled and fermented ingredients - they go so well with the KFC Original Recipe”
KFC’s NPD team lead discusses the success of its Vegan Burger, where KFC plans to take its plant-based menu next and why texture is too often overlooked by product developers.
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Analysis & InsightInstagram: Looking Good Enough To Eat
No dish reaches the candy pink menu at EL&N cafe without having its photo taken first. The chain’s head of food Daniel Booth will “play around with dishes during the development process, taking photos to see how they look through a lens before finalising them,” says head of marketing Sahar Mahdavian. The result is immaculate. Sambazon acai smoothie bowls and edible flowers perch pristinely on ancient grain granola, more modern art than breakfast.
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Analysis & InsightDelivery promiscuity in a fragmented market
Casual dining brands are becoming more promiscuous with delivery operators, MCA analysis has revealed.
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NewsSteve Gotham: Recovering confidence and and accelerating growth in 2020
Encouragingly for most, MCA predicts that 2020 will see stronger net physical increases in store portfolios across the majority of leading operators.MCA’s Operator Data Index includes over 350 branded operators with five or more outlets at December 2019. These stretch across the full spectrum of the market and account for close to 27,000 outlets which claimed modest overall year on year growth of just under 1% in 2019. We are expecting this growth rate to double to 2% in December 2020, with over 500 net new outlets to open, equating to 11 per week.
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NewsPlanting the right seeds for sustained growth
Veganism has been labelled the megatrend of the next decade and the statistics back up this claim. Last month, more than 400,000 people signed up to this year’s Veganuary campaign, a 60% increase on last year, fuelled by shows such as Netflix’ recent “Game Changers” documentary. Whilst uptake of pure vegans has increased markedly, there’s also a very large market out there for people that simply want to reduce their meat intake, whether that is for environmental or perceived health reasons, rather than just animal welfare reasons. Sainsbury’s recent Future of Food report, which looks ahead to 2025, predicts 25% of adults will be either be vegan or vegetarian by then, with the proportion of ‘flexitarians’ set to rise to 50%.
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Analysis & InsightBangkok bounce back?
Once the darling of the Thai restaurant scene, Busaba has had a tough few years, with falling profits and site closures. Now with a simplified offer and a fresh focus on the capital, it’s looking to bounce back
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Analysis & InsightTop 10 F2G brands grow market share
The top 10 Food To Go brands grew sales by 3.4% in 2019 to a market share of 33.6%, outperforming the wider Food to Go (FTG) market, MCA Insight reveals.
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NewsCasual Dining back in growth in 2020
The leading casual dining brands are set to return to growth of around 1% in 2020, according to MCA Insight. The growth was largely due to a combination of inflationary pressures easing, and the stablising political climate boosting consumer confidence, it said. The sample of 250 casual dining brands, from large operators like KFC down to smaller operators like Flat Iron, found growth would return in 2020 after declines of -3.5% and -2.8% across 2018 and 2019.
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NewsKFC sales up
KFC UK has seen a sales uplift of 11% for its fourth quarter ended 31 December 2019.
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NewsRetailers’ Retailer full nominees list revealed
The finalists for MCA’s Retailers’ Retailer Awards 2020 have been announced, with the cohort reflecting a diverse and vibrant range of eating and drinking out operators.
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NewsGreggs voted top fast food brand by YouGov
Greggs has been ranked ‘top’ and ‘most improved’ brand in the fast food and pubs sector of YouGov’s 2019 BrandIndex Buzz survey.
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NewsShuker leaves KFC
Martin Shuker, managing director of KFC Western Europe, has announced his decision to retire after nearly three years in the role.
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NewsVeganuary operator offering round-up
Once again, Veganuary is upon us, and with the number of vegans more than doubling to 600,000 between 2016 and 2019, this year’s operator offering is bigger than ever.