The Colonel’s famous fried chicken will soon become a forgotten relic in Russia after KFC finalized its plans to withdraw from the country.
delicious! Brands, which owns the US fast-food giant, is selling its restaurants and franchise rights – covering around 1,000 branches – to local businessmen.
The restaurants will now be renamed “Rostic’s,” according to local media, and will not be allowed to use any KFC branding.
It is believed they will lose access to the so-called “secret” blend of 11 herbs and spices, although it is unclear whether they can stop managers trying to recreate it from memory.
McDonald’s, which left Russia in May, successfully stopped the new owners of its branches from recreating any brand, but they were widely described as copycats.
The new chain serves an almost identical menu using what it claims are the same ingredients and recipes.
However, it has been plagued by complaints about french fries shortages, moldy burgers and stale condiments, as well as the notable disappearance of the Big Mac.
The majority of Russian KFC restaurants are operated by independent owners under franchise agreements, with about 70 directly owned by Yum! Brands.
Little is known about the buyers, Konstantin Yuryevich Kotov and Andrey Eduardovich Oskolkov, except that they are existing KFC franchisees.
They have agreed to retain all existing staff and carry out the rebrand “gradually”.
delicious! Brands, which also owns Pizza Hut, vowed to pull both brands out of Russia in July amid an exodus of multinationals following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The company has halted all development of its Russian business and pledged to redirect profits from the restaurants to humanitarian organizations until it finds a buyer.
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