020808 KFC Celebrates 50 Years

Louisville, KY - KFC, the world's most popular chicken restaurant chain, will celebrate its 50th birthday August 4, 2002. While Colonel Harland D. Sanders first served his now famous original recipe at his cafe in Corbin, Ky., it was franchisee Pete Harman who helped bring the Kentucky Fried Chicken® restaurant chain to life.

Harman thought the Colonel's fried chicken was so delicious, he offered to serve it to his customers at his family cafe. On August 4, 1952, the Colonel's(TM) Original Recipe® Chicken with 11 secret herbs and spices was sold at the world's first Kentucky Fried Chicken location in Salt Lake City. Due to the overwhelming response, the Colonel decided to cash in his $105 social security check and franchise his dream. From that day forward, he traveled from town to town selling his secret recipe to restaurant owners across the country, becoming the pioneer of home meal replacements.

Over a decade later in 1969 when the company went public, Colonel Sanders bought the first 100 shares of KFC® stock. In the years that followed, KFC owned nearly half of all chicken quick-service sales in the U.S.*

Today, there more than 11,000 KFC stores in more than 80 countries, serving 8 million customers each day.

"50 years later, we are still providing consumers with the Colonel's famous hot and fresh fried chicken made with his secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices," says Cheryl Bachelder, CEO and chief concept officer of KFC Corporation. "We differentiate ourselves from fast food restaurants by consistently delivering high quality food, value and freshness to each customer every day."

Fun Chicken Facts ... Did you Know*

-- 914 million pounds of chicken is served in KFC restaurants per year

-- Over 26 million people visit a KFC restaurant a week in the United States

-- Laid head-to-claw, KFC chickens consumed last year could encircle the earth at the equator more than 8 1/2 times

-- On average, the typical U.S. household serves chicken 7 times per month

-- On average, 82 pounds of chicken per person is consumed each year worldwide

-- KFC opens approximately 2 restaurants a day worldwide

-- According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world's largest chicken weighs 22 pounds - the chicken's name? Weirdo!

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