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In the mid-1950s, plans for a new interstate highway threatened to divert traffic away from Harland Sandersâs successful roadside restaurant in the Appalachian town of Corbin, Kentucky. Faced with the prospect of losing his business, Sanders, then in his mid-60s, sold it in 1956. He then turned his attention to franchising his fried chicken recipe, which he had begun marketing to other restaurant owners several years earlier. What might have been the end of his restaurant career instead helped launch one of the worldâs largest fast-food chains, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Along the way, Sandersâs white suit, black string tie, and goatee became familiar marketing symbols.
The chain changed hands several times before becoming a division of Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM), a publicly traded restaurant company that also owns Taco Bell. By 2026, KFC had more than 34,700 restaurants worldwide, 90% of them outside the United States.
Colonel Sandersâs recipe for success
Sanders was nearly 40 years old when he began operating a service station along U.S. Route 25 in Corbin in 1930. He had held a variety of jobs, including railroad worker, insurance salesman, and ferryboat operator, before settling into the roadside business. When travelers began asking where they could get a meal, Sanders started serving them himself, using a dining table at the service station that seated just six people.
Fried chicken became the restaurantâs signature offering, but preparing it presented a challenge. Traditional pan-frying took too long for travelers who wanted a quick meal, while Sanders believed deep-frying compromised the chickenâs quality. He experimented with pressure cooking, developing a method that reduced preparation time while keeping the meat moist. He also perfected a seasoning blend of 11 herbs and spices that became known as his Original Recipe. The formula is one of the food industryâs most closely guarded trade secrets.
Sandersâs next breakthrough came in 1952, when he reached an agreement with Pete Harman, a restaurant owner in South Salt Lake, Utah, to sell chicken prepared using his recipe and cooking method. Harman helped establish the Kentucky Fried Chicken name and later introduced the bucket packaging that became closely associated with the chain. The arrangement provided a model for Sanders to expand his business without opening and operating every restaurant himself.
Franchising and rapid expansion
After selling his restaurant in 1956, Sanders devoted himself to expanding Kentucky Fried Chicken through franchising. Traveling from restaurant to restaurant, he demonstrated his cooking method and persuaded owners to add his chicken to their menus. Rather than charging substantial up-front fees, Sanders collected royalties based on the amount of chicken sold. By the early 1960s, his efforts had helped establish hundreds of Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets across the U.S. and Canada.
The growing business attracted investors, including John Y. Brown Jr., a young Kentucky lawyer, and Jack C. Massey, a Tennessee businessman. In 1964, Sanders sold Kentucky Fried Chicken to a group led by Brown and Massey for $2 million. Under the agreement, Sanders continued as a paid spokesman for the company, becoming an iconic figure in its advertising.
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Colonel Harland Sanders preparing his signature fried chicken in Nashville in 1969.
Harland Sanders began serving travelers at this location in 1930, eventually developing the fried chicken recipe and cooking method that became the foundation of KFC.
The new owners accelerated KFCâs expansion, opening the chainâs first restaurant in the United Kingdom, in Preston, Lancashire, in 1965. The company went public the next year, and its restaurant network grew rapidly in the U.S. and overseas. By 1971, when the food and beverage company Heublein acquired KFC for about $285 million, the chain had some 3,500 restaurants. Sanders remained closely associated with Kentucky Fried Chicken until his death in 1980, although he sometimes publicly criticized changes made to the food and its preparation.
Ownership changes and international growth
Under Heublein, tensions emerged between corporate management and franchisees over operating practices and changes to the menu. In 1982, R.J. Reynolds Industries acquired Heublein for $1.3 billion, bringing KFC under the ownership of a major tobacco company.
Four years later, the newly renamed RJR Nabisco sold KFC to PepsiCo (PEP) for about $850 million, concluding that the restaurant chain no longer fit its focus on packaged foods and other consumer goods. The purchase added KFC to PepsiCoâs restaurant business, which already included Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. As PepsiCo sought greater control over KFCâs franchised restaurants, disputes with operators emerged over franchise agreements and management policies.
In 1991, Kentucky Fried Chicken officially shortened its name to KFC, adopting the initials it had been using informally for years.
In 1997, PepsiCo spun off KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell into a separate publicly traded company called Tricon Global Restaurants, raising $4.5 billion to pay down debt and fund stock buybacks. In 2002, following its acquisition of the Long John Silverâs and A&W restaurant chains, Tricon changed its name to Yum! Brands.
KFC in China
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China became one of KFCâs largest markets after the chain opened its first restaurant in mainland China in 1987.
KFC opened its first restaurant in mainland China in Beijing in 1987. Under Sam Su, who oversaw KFCâs expansion in China, the company hired local managers, developed a network of Chinese suppliers and distributors, and expanded into smaller cities. It also adapted its menu to Chinese tastes, adding rice dishes, congee, fried dough sticks, and egg tarts alongside its traditional fried chicken. These changes helped KFC grow into one of Chinaâs largest restaurant chains.
In 2016, Yum Brands spun off its China business as Yum China Holdings, a separate publicly traded company that continued operating KFC restaurants in mainland China under a licensing agreement. In December 2023, KFC opened its 10,000th restaurant in China, in Hangzhou. By mid-2026, KFC had nearly 13,800 restaurants in mainland China.
Competition and reinvention
Despite its continued international growth, KFC lost ground in the U.S. to rivals such as Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, and Raising Caneâs. In response, KFC introduced new menu items, brought back favorites such as potato wedges and popcorn chicken, and revised its advertising.
In 2026, KFC began a broader overhaul of its menus, restaurant designs, and marketing worldwide. The changes included more boneless chicken options, a wider selection of sauces, and new beverages. The company also refreshed its logo and packaging while retaining Colonel Sandersâs familiar image and its signature chicken bucket.
In October 2026, KFC said it would replace Pepsi products with beverages from the Coca-Cola Company (KO) at more than 3,000 U.S. restaurants, beginning in January 2027. The decision ended KFCâs decades-long partnership with PepsiCo in the U.S., nearly 30 years after PepsiCo had spun off the restaurant chain.
UNKNOWNThis article was most recently revised and updated by David Schepp
