08/14/2022
DID YOU KNOW ... Kentucky Fried Chicken will usually be the first thing someone from another place mentions about our Commonwealth, no matter what part of Kentucky you’re from. However, the face of such a famous fast-food spot isn’t even from Kentucky himself. Harland Sanders was a man from Henryville, Indiana who worked hard to support his family after the loss of his father. Despite being hardworking, he lost 15 jobs and 3 businesses before becoming a chef - due to his quick temper and insubordination. In 1930, the Shell Oil Company rented a service station in Corbin, Kentucky to Sanders for free, in return for a commission on sales. This station is where Sanders started cooking the chicken that is now served at the KFC outlets across the world. The service station was expanded into a motel-kitchen, which burned down during Thanksgiving in 1939. Sanders rebuilt the motel with a 140-seat restaurant, and had finalized his “Secret Recipe” of eleven herbs and spices by the summer of 1940. The business was not only accommodating to its customers, but Sanders cooked up some of the best home-cooked fried chicken using his secret blend of herbs and spices. Sanders was later commissioned as a “Kentucky Colonel” and went on to open many more outlets for his chicken. We now know him as the face of Kentucky Fried Chicken which continues to honor his legacy to this day. Sanders died in 1980, at age 90, from acute leukemia. By the time of his death, there were 6000 KFC restaurants worldwide, with $2 billion worth of sales annually. Today, KFC is the second-largest restaurant chain after McDonald’s, with 24,104 locations across 150 countries, and was valued at $27.9 billion in 2020.
