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Less than half of KFC sites have full menu months after delivery fiasco

Fast food chain KFC is struggling to right the delivery fiasco which forced it to close hundreds of restaurants in February - REUTERS
Fast food chain KFC is struggling to right the delivery fiasco which forced it to close hundreds of restaurants in February - REUTERS

Less than half of KFC’s 900 restaurants are offering customers a full menu over two months after the fast food chain was hit by chicken delivery problems.

KFC was forced to shut nearly 700 restaurants in February after a disastrous switch from experienced food distributor Bidvest to DHL and Quick Service Logistics (QSL).

Bidvest was rehired last month to supply 350 outlets in the north of the UK. But customers up and down the country are still unable to order from a full range of dishes.

Where did it go wrong for the KFC supply chain?
Where did it go wrong for the KFC supply chain?

Angry KFC customers have taken to Twitter to complain that they cannot buy chicken burgers, wraps and, in some cases, rice, salad, hash browns and sweetcorn.

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KFC, owned by US food giant Yum Brands, claims that 260 more of its restaurants will be offering a full menu from this week. However, this only takes the number to 400.

A spokesman for the company said it hoped that all of its remaining restaurants would have 98pc of the menu available by early May.

Food industry insiders claim KFC’s distribution switch was “entirely driven by cost” and that “eyebrows were raised” when KFC gave DHL the contract as it had “virtually no experience in food delivery”.

“The pound signs started whirring when DHL came forward with its bid but nobody spent enough time asking whether they could do it,” an industry source said.

The speed with which KFC sought to transfer the distribution contract may also have contributed to the fiasco.

A Bidvest spokesman said: “Every KFC restaurant that Bidvest Logistics service will be on full menu from Tuesday, April 24.” DHL declined to comment.