American fast-food restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) says it cannot disclose the quality standards Kenyan farmers wishing to supply it with potatoes must meet.
The food retail giant told Business Daily that it cannot share such information due to what it termed as proprietary restrictions.
“We do not disclose proprietary information around sourcing and pricing,” the company said.
KFC, which operates locally through franchisee Kuku Foods East Africa, this week announced it was ready to source potatoes for French fries from Kenyan farmers as long as they meet their global standards.
This came after Kenyans on social media called for the KFC boycott for ignoring local farmers and shipping potatoes from overseas.
On Monday, KFC announced they could no longer serve chips to their customers in Kenya after their imported potato stock ran out.
It attributed the shortage to a rise in demand for French fries during the festive period and a hitch in the global supply of potatoes due to the pandemic.
“It has to do with delays in shipping lines due to the Covid situation. Ships have been delayed for more than a month now, but we are working hard to restore as the first containers are arriving in the port tomorrow (Tuesday),” Kuku Foods CEO Jacques Theunissen said.
The company said it was in the process of identifying a local supplier that has the processing, tracking, and cold chain management capability to supply it with chips.
“Although we currently import our French fries, there is an opportunity to source the potatoes from a local supplier that meets the global KFC quality and safety specifications in the near future,” the food chain said in a statement.
“At KFC Kenya, we work with a number of local Kenyan suppliers to serve our customers locally sourced produce and ingredients in our restaurants. These currently include core items including our poultry; fresh vegetables; bread buns; packaging; flour and ice cream to name a few.”
Franchises and…
Franchises and multinationals are ticks. Eat and buy what is produced locally unless…
They are from beneath i.e…
They are from beneath i.e. Lucifer land. How can a company selling toxic food and colored water make billions?
It is a shame even our…
It is a shame even our government doesn’t protect local businesses. Try that in those foreign lands you see dust.
People,ie.Kemyans,have…
People,ie.Kemyans,have ventured far and wide from Kenya,and you’re here yapping about emotions and opinions????Go places and see,in German,Canada,NY,… everywhere…don’t be so local
Kenyans needs to boycott KFC…
Kenyans needs to boycott KFC. They will close it down if Kenyans stop buying their cancer causing food. Kenya grown organic food is the best.
I think they intend to close…
I think they intend to close or Kenyans shall close the restaurants for them. We still have rocks on the expressway
BOYCOTT THEM!
BOYCOTT THEM!
You can’t just qualify to…
You can’t just qualify to supply illuminati if you aren’t a member. Tight knit community
Even if you boycott them…
Even if you boycott them Kenya they will still bloom in US. KFC does not need Kenya to grow. Sorry for that cold hard truth but it’s a fact. They do just well in west countries plus china so boycott or not they won’t bulge. They are called trade secrets. I learned that in high school-Kanunga high school in Kiambu?
KFC is not blooming in US or…
KFC is not blooming in US or Western countries ’cause their people are ditching “fast foods” like KFC for healthier diets in fancy restaurants.
Where do you live? I live in…
Where do you live? I live in Tx and heck yes they are blooming. Wh
Booming where, in the hood’…
Booming where, in the hood’ you mean. Well if it’s booming elsewhere why it is hell-bent to reply to Kenyans on Twitter, shouldn’t it ignore? Plizzz!
I don’t care about tweeter…
I don’t care about tweeter. I need to correct people like you. KFC is doing just fine in the US. Both in the hood and suburban
@Mr. Collusion, let them…
@Mr. Collusion, let them pack and go. We will continue to eat our Ugali, githeri, omena, Managu and our other local food. You were taught the wrong thing in Kanunga high school. Many people in USA do not go to fast-food like KFC. They sell junk food.
No one goes to KFC here in…
No one goes to KFC here in the US anymore..usually there are no cars parked outside or at the drive-thru everytime I pass by on my way to chik-fil-a.
Where do you live? In DFW…
Where do you live? In DFW area they do and so is all of US. Ndugu just cause you don’t go doesn’t mean the whole world doesn’t
I dislike KFC here and I…
I dislike KFC here and I already dislike them in Kenya. Kenyans, please Boycott KFC.
Like I said before, they had…
Like I said before, they had no intention to engage Kenyan produce. They are happy with their current supply chain and would rather run out and stop providing a commodity than seek alternatives. But we have too many folks in Kenya who think KFC is the greatest thing ever to happen to them. But again these are the same folks who hang a mid-easterner presented as a caucasian in their sitting rooms and worship him adoringly. So KFC is not worried about losing any market in 254, and neither is JC.
@Soldieron, I remember…
@Soldieron, I remember watching the movie ‘Coming to America’ long ago and I used to think McDonald’s is a super high class restaurant.
KENYANS IT IS AN ELECTION…
KENYANS IT IS AN ELECTION YEAR. VOTE FOR LEADERS WHO WILL PROTECT KENYAN NATIONAL INTERESTS. PLACE IN PEOPLE WHO WILL TREMENDOUSLY IMPROVE KENYA’S ECONOMY BY AMONGST OTHER THINGS- NEGOTIATING ANA KWA ANA WITH THESE MULTINATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WITHOUT FEAR. IF YOU’RE HERE COMPLAINING ABOUT KFC AND STILL VOTE FOR A FELLOW LUO OR KIKUYU OR KALENJIN WITHOUT BASED ON TRIBALISM AND NOT MERIT THEN YOU ARE JUST AS STUPID AS THE NEXT KENYAN WHO WILL QUEUE IN LINE FOR KFC JUNK AFTER THESE UPSETTING NEWS
Fake food to cause obesity…
Fake food to cause obesity in Africa
Jambazi Kimemia,a former…
Jambazi Kimemia,a former head of civil service should be ashamed that he never knew many production companies do not use local law materials.Companies like Coca Cola and KBL cannot buy sugar from Western Kenya citing price and inferiority.KFC also say local potatoes are below quality.Kimemia doesn’t know maize millers prefer importing cheap maize to expensive Kenyan one.Importation of law materials has been going on since the days of Moi.Barking against KFC won’t help.The useless bloated gangsters’ government must put it’s house in order before you blame foreign companies.Why are production costs and taxation so high?