KFC Shoots Up Prices: Here Are Popular Foods Affected

Global fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has moved to increase the prices of its popular food products on its menu, meaning Kenyans will have to pay more to relish the delicacy.

Viral Tea conducted spot checks on some of the popular picks on offer, which include the Streetwise 2 (two pieces of chicken and a packet of chips) which now goes for Ksh450.

In December 2021, the same option cost Ksh350 before it was raised to Ksh370. This now represents a 28 per cent increase.

A KFC outlet at the Garden City Mall in Nairobi. /MARVIN CHEGE.VIRALTEAKE

It was just weeks ago when the same menu was going for Ksh390, with the multinational fast food chain yet to communicate the reason for the hike in prices.

KFC is a leading food chain that sells fast food and has been in operation in the country for almost 10 years. It was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in Kentucky, United States (US) whose story of working multiple jobs before selling fried chicken from his roadside during the Great Depression moved billions worldwide.

He opened the first KFC restaurant in 1952 and thanks to his secret recipe for making the chicken, it exploded across the US and became the first to expand globally, opening outlets in Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Jamaica by the mid-1960s.

In 1964, then 73 years old, he sold the company to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack C. Massey for Ksh242.1 million. However, he retained control of operations in Canada, and he became a salaried brand ambassador for KFC before his death in 1980 at the age of 90.

KFC broke into Kenyan territory with its first outlet at the Junction Mall in Nairobi in 2011. It has since spread to nearly all areas of the city and major towns in the country.

Apart from walk-ins, it also offers deliveries and in November 2018, it made 30,000 deliveries which is nearly 60 per cent of the total deliveries in the East African region.

The restaurant early this year was caught in the crossfire countrywide when it announced that it had run out of potatoes for its chips and was forced to offer ugali on its menu, which rattled the youth and urban residents, arguably its biggest customer base.

The restaurant’s fries were also revealed to not have been sourced locally but rather imported from other countries, a matter that prompted Kenyans to turn on the restaurant chain for turning a blind eye on local farmers to follow global quality standards.

KFC was then forced to respond by announcing that it would source potatoes from farmers in the country. Alongside the National Potato Council, the restaurant identified the Markies variety of potatoes that Kenyan farmers can grow to supply it to meet its needs.