The Decline of KFC...What Happened?
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- Опубликовано: 25 окт 2022
- Kentucky Fried Chicken is not as large or as respected as they once were. This video attempts to identify the main reasons behind their decline.
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My #1 issue with KFC is the price. The quality of the food has continued to decrease over the years yet the price has absolutely skyrocketed.
Everything has skyrocketed, it's called inflation. You can thank Biden for that.
That's pretty much the same at all fast food restaurants.
The Colonel died and quality died with him.
@@picklerix6162 The Colonel left his recipe behind so that we can all continue to enjoy his original fried chicken.
I eat Bojangles that's the best chicken in the game maybe Popeyes too.
When I was a little kid, getting KFC was considered a treat. But the decline in quality absolutely makes me choose almost anywhere else.
Popeyes all day
Pretty much. Now I only get it out of desperation if nothing else is close by and I haven't eaten all day. It never feels good having to resort to them the few times I've done it.
Agreed. In the 1980's, when my mom was going to get that for dinner because my dad had to work late, we loved it. Today, I would rather get something better for my family as a treat. KFC is not what it once was.
Ironically, I get the old KFC treat vibe when eating Chick-Fil-A. They have the BEST Lemonade, BTW!
On a tangent, I just saw an old ad for KFC from ‘83. Feed a family of four for $3.47. Dear Lord.
If the Colonel ate anything from KFC today,he would personally go outside and pull his face off every franchise
He would shoot the chicken pizza
He would fuck the chicken
Think his family still get paid,laugh, laugh
The KFC us asians have are honestly decent. Every KFC in downtown area are so busy with long lines of people waiting. Unlike the western woke obese unhygienic meth head crazies we take our job seriously and demand some standarts even if working for KFC
@@SmilingAbyssinianCat-dl9dl yes, I can really believe that you are right. The problem in this country is that no one cares about doing a quality job unless it pays a ton of money and sometimes not even that. Enjoy it because when it’s gone it’s gone. Also, I am from the south in the US basically where that kind of chicken originated. we miss it. Luckily there are many other restaurants that still make quality fried chicken.
I love that the Colonel kept calling out the quality. Even after he sold the company, he still cared about the product that his face was on. As he should have
AND that he started ONE new restaurant to get back to HIS quality, and that restaurant is still in business! Claudia Sanders Dinner House!
Don't forget about the small arms and legs attached to the big head.
Suing him for his comments sounds like a PR nightmare
Papa John did the same. Coincidentally it was the inside job conspired against him by marketing execs from him quoting what Colonel Sanders said 50 years ago that lost him from his company. Now Papa Johns is in the same dumpster fire as KFC. "Yum!" Brands oligarchy ruins every single fast food chain.
@@owenb8636 KFC suing Colonel Sanders is like the US government suing George Washington.
When the Colonel died, several competing fast food restaurants had signs honoring his passing. Some even closed for the day of his funeral. That's how respected he was.
Wow!
"Everything I ever known or learned from the fast-food industry, I learned from Colonel Sanders and working at his resteraunt" -Dave Thomas, founder of Wendys
It's sad that the Colonel built the chain from the ground up, everyone knew his image on the sign.
But just like that they changed the image and did new commercials with the Colonel portrayed as a bumbling idiot.
After decades of establishing the image and brand It's destroyed in one pathetic ad campaign.
Meanwhile 15 years later, his own restaurant has random comedians yukking it up
how many chickens do you think the colonel is responsiblefor ?
The original recipe definitely changed some years ago. That was when I stopped eating KFC.
Sanders stole that recipe from black woman yrs ago. He couldn't cook
Actually what happend is the amount of the 11 herbs znd spices were reduced by 40 percent...same ingredients just less taste .
Always happens like this, a great food place gets sold and the new owners care for nothing except money so they cheapen quality! That's happened to many iconic restaurants today... It's so sad!
That's the number one issue, the bean counters take over and then the restaurant fails.
@pshaw8406 here in Canada is the turbans that have taken control of EVERY fast food restaurant. I wouldn't go within 5 blocks of one of their restaurants to get food.
First, but on a serious note - Back when the Sanders was still Alive, KFC was one of the very first franchised fast food restaurants. This used to be taken extremely seriously. Every corporate manager would do constant in-depth inspections, and if you fell below standards, you would forfeit your franchisee license. But there have been complaints that these standards have dropped with KFC.
Yes. It was a very tightly controlled system. Sadly standards have placed so much :(
If you fell below standards The Colonel himself would show up and would be pissed
He kept the company in a rather high standard for as long as he lived.
@@primusvsunicron1 I'd pay money to see a video of a geriatric Colonel beating a franchise owner with his cane over the quality of the gravy.
@@Raskolnikov70 As they roll their eyes and say Ok boomer.
The price is ridiculous.
The service is bad.
The portions are microscopic.
The chicken is virtually tasteless.
The store that was near to me closed because people refused to put up with it any longer.
It was a KFC/Taco Bell combo store that didn't focus on quality and instead had a bunch of horrible cold over priced junk.
I guess you won’t be eating at KFC anytime soon
KFC French fries& biscuits are horrible
The size of the chicken what the hell the legs are the size of my thumb and the chickens breast so small. The service is very bad
Their chicken isn't real chicken anymore, that is why it's called KFC now, they cannot say Kentucky Fried Chicken anymore, just the monogram.
Yep! That's what did it for me, the size of the Chicken portions and the price. Now the same thing has happened to Popeye's Chicken. Tiny portions that look like it came from a pigeon!
Man, hearing the Colonel's own comments about the decline of quality at KFC is an eye opener. Makes me want to go back in time and try what the real original recipe was like.
if you built a time machine just to taste the best fried chicken.....well that's not the best reason to do it....
"I build the time machine to know the why's the when's and the how's of history"
-Doc Emmet Brown
I'm part joking but I agree, I'd love to see what his recipe was like....to grow a business like his that got that big well you know his recipe had to be really good....
Yeah I'd also really like to see what his recipe tastes like,if it's still floating around out there somewhere then somebody needs to get it out there....what better way to honor the man then giving the ppl a chance to enjoy his work....also I'd have to say that would be a damn good reason for someone to invent a time machine
When I heard he complained about the new gravy being similar to "wallpaper paste" and KFC filing a lawsuit to silence him, you know it's serious trouble.
there is still a restaraunt where you can get the orginal
@@loganshutts1063 What's that?
The two KFCs in my area became so run down that people just didn’t want to go there anymore. One finally closed permanently, but the other was renovated and is still open, but still isn’t as busy as it once was. I don’t expect it will last.
Since 1970 when I first started eating KFC, I found they’ve changed the recipe somewhat and the gravy now tastes very bland.
It is full of sunflower oil and no milk.
I worked as a cook at Kentucky Fried Chicken from 1985 to 1988. Back then they made mostly everything from scratch. The biscuits were mixed in the kitchen in a dough mixer The biscuit dough was made from real flour and real buttermilk that came in a carton, now I am sure they are all pre-made and frozen. The cole slaw was made from FRESH cabbage and was grinded in the store with REAL fresh carrots and onions. The gravy was made from the "cracklings" found in the bottom of the chicken fryers. The breading to both the original and crispy chickens were dipped in real milk and egg dippings prior to being cooked in the pressure cookers. The original recipe spices though premade was pure and mixed with REAL flour! I am certain everything now comes either "pre-made" "frozen" or "pre packaged". Not to mention we were trained by KFC staff leaders to provide optimal service. Such a shame the decline in this company.
The CEO took his millions and ran. Very sad this isn't called out on social media.
Yeah I agree. I'm not as old as you are, but I'm still old enough to remember when KFC was KF-motherfuckin-C! The quality went down in the tubes and it's still edible, but as gross as it is to say, I do prefer Popeyes now. Now the best chicken place that I know of is Pollo Campero which is an El Salvadorian fast food chicken place. Now THAT is some A1 chicken.
It was Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC wasn't a thing. That was the late 60's, early 70's. I remember the first one in East Ridge Tennessee. Man it was a big deal to get Kentucky Fried Chicken. We didn't eat out but one time a week, and that was Friday night. Saturday Night was Jiffy Pop Popcorn, in the Silver Aluminum Done, cooked on the stove, and Hee Haw!
I think taking away Colonel Sanders authority ruined it. It was about quality and consistency. I heard he would repossess the pressure cooker if he caught someone slacking. When he sold out, money became the goal, not quality. I think that was the biggest change.
Do they still cook it in the pressure cooker?
@@jeffcampbell2710 @Jeff Campbell yeah I don't know about any pressure cookers. I worked at a KFC when I was a kid for all of a month. I got laid off for what I thought was no reason whatsoever, but then a month or two afterwards the whole place went out of business so at least I can be at peace knowing that I didn't do anything wrong.
I take pride in my job and that was only one of 3 jobs I've ever been fired from so I was pretty upset about it for a while until they went out of business and that's when I realized that it was just bad management, not bad employees.
I've seen a lot of videos on this guy's channel and most of these businesses that fail do so when the original founders part ways and the business is taken over by some greedy dipshit who doesn't know what they're doing and never fully realized why the business they took over was successful in the first place.
Oh let's stop using this more expensive ingredient, and let's switch to this cheap shit, but charge the customers the same amount. So then slowly but surely they start losing business because nobody wants to eat they're shitting low quality food.
But yeah I don't remember seeing a pressure cooker up there, but they did have a shitload of deep fryers so they would just constantly be dropping this battered chicken into the deep fryers all damn day.
I worked at a KFC around 2000. At the time, the biscuits were pre-formed frozen and not fresh. The cole slaw was a big bag of pre-shredded veggies that had to be mixed with the mayo. The gravy was still the same as what you say. The breading did not have real milk or eggs. At the time they used powdered milk, flour, and a spice mixture. The mashed potatoes would be some pre-processed dry mix as opposed to mashing fresh potatoes. KFC and Pizza Hut are in the same boat. They were great back in the 70s/80s when they used more fresh ingredients. It would be a special occasion to go to Pizza Hut for dinner or bring home KFC for dinner. The decline in quality was one among the many reasons for the decline in those restaurants.
I worked at KFC back in 1979 or so. The quality of the food (all of it) has gotten so bad that my friends and family won't eat there any more. People eat unhealthy food everyday, but they won't eat unhealthy food that just plain sucks.
I also worked there in 79. If you ask me, I say they sold the recipe to Chick-fil-A, could swear to it, I masterd the technique of cooking the chicken and its garbage now, but Chick-fil-A taste exactly like the old KFC no doubt about it.
"Decline"? That place been declining fpr years! Prices are outrageous and quality of their food is nowhere NEAR what it used to be!
Employees wages affected the food prices, it not KFC fault but stale fried chicken sometimes & terrible & horrible French fries &biscuts are KFC fault
Is it just me or the original chicken taste changed dramatically compared to the 90s?
For me, I was shocked when they raised their prices to insane levels a few years back. Haven't gone back.
Lies again? Don't Tell Password Gain City
- Kentucky Fried Chicken owners are Republicans. Only Republicans can be that damn greedy.
This, the prices have gone ludicrous. I looks at the menu every once in a while and think….nah I’ll get the online boneless deal at wingstop.
thats because the chicken isn't poison anymore. you're missing out.
no "chicken" in those boneless pieces of "meat". kfc all farm fed chicken now...get what u pay 4
I cooked for the Colonel in 1966-1967. The product was excellent. It was cooked in individual pressure cookers about 2 or 3 times larger than a home pressure cooker. Each one held two cut up chickens. You could easily lift them with two hands. We used genuine Crisco, quality flower and a made in the store milk and egg dip from prepackaged materials so more or less a fresh milk and egg dip. Temperatures were kept on the money as was cooking time. Oil was thrown out when it was worn out, when you are cooking with it you can tell. During peak dining times it was hard work, there might be 8 pots going continually in my store, in bigger stores I would not be surprised if there were 16 going. With the quality of ingredients and the care put into cooking each pot the cooked chicken was literally finger licking good. It was beautiful to look at, fully breaded, golden brown, pretty much all the breading stuck on like it was glued in place. Because it was pressure cooked it was beautifully crispy outside and still moist and tender inside.
One day we got a new shipment of "oil" and new "flour" they wanted us to try as an experiment. Obviously, an experiment to save money. We tried the new stuff and could tell as soon as it came out of the pots that it was terrible. On a scale of 0 - 100 with the real stuff being 100 it would have been about a 70. We reported back and that was the end of it.
That was long long ago, and I've watched over the years as the product quality has declined. Not working there anymore I can't say with any authority what the cause is other than what would be the obvious things to conclude, they are using crappy ingredients to save money and they have switched to those gigantic pressure tubs to cook in. The final product usually looks like it was made by people who literally don't give a crap about product quality. Breading is falling off, it's greasy and undercooked and often tastes like the oil has been in use far too long. On their best day what they produce is perhaps an 80 compared to what we put out back in the 60's.
Do you know what the recipe used to be for the gravy?
@@VegasX900 No. The Gravy was made by "the girls" and the "milk and egg dip" was made by "the boys". I don't recall ever seeing the gravy get made. It was darn good though.
Wow: legendary cook work for colonel.sander;; ; lucky
Funny comment lol
I remember eating KFC in the late 60’s and I can tell there is a difference between then and now. It was darn good. It is still pretty tolerable but you are right not as good as it was. My theory is they forgot the original recipe also. It used to have a bit more pepper in it and a little more kick so to speak.
The cost is ridiculous. The size of the pieces could not get smaller.
The quality of the product is horrible.
The staff seems to be under qualified on a good day.
Back to price, outrageous
Thank you more making your videos not so click baity. Just super simple and not so dramatic. Always informational and fun to watch.
You nailed it. As a kid, KFC night was to be looked forward to. You knew the chicken, Mac and cheese, and biscuits would make your night. Then it just changed. I haven't been to one in years because the food is cold, warmed over, and/or of noticeably bad quality. The biscuits are like rocks now.
i remember it was kind of special when i was a kid & my parents got us that big bucket of chicken, with green beans, mashed potatoes & gravy. And this was way after the Colonel had sold the company(were talkin the 80's). So i don't know exactly whern everything changed - for some reason i relate the name change to KFC to the decline in quality. Nowadays i hardly ever eat fast food but about 10 years ago i went & grabbed a two piece at KFC and was grossed out. It was mushy, greasy, & flavorless outside of all the sodium. And with the prices of food these days, i imagine the classic family bucket meal must be like $40.
At least Popeyes is still great.
There biscuits were the best. The last few times I tried them, they were very disappointing.
@@swtv1754 i dont mean to be repetitive, but again - Popeyes. They're biscuits are pretty darn good.
Yep! pretty sad when you can go to a grocery store or gas station and get better chicken now. Not sure how much longer KFC will last here in the states TBH
Their macaroni and cheese tastes disgusting.
If you’ve never heard of it, KFC actually had a test restaurant in Louisville KY to try to turn KFC into more of a fast casual dining experience. KFC 11. It was so good when it opened. Fresh ingredients, friendly staff, and the southwest chicken bowl was one of the best dishes I’ve had at a fast casual location.
It was somewhere I would go to a few times a week. And the only reason I stopped is because corporate got involved and started to remove items from the menu and change over to more normal KFC menu items. Eventually it was just a regular KFC and was a sad disappointment. All to make a few extra cents on the dollar that caused it to go out of business.
Makes me hate KFC for ruining something that was amazing.
That isn't just KFC. That's what people do, as a species.
Doesn't make sense. Why ruin something that obviously is working.
@@poeticsilence047 business is not just about something working or not, it is about market, profit, margins. You can have a great product with small profit margins, but you could also have a cheaper product that is just "good enough" but higher profit margins and sells more volume.
Whoa I didn’t know that
James Mullins KFC , toco bell , pizza hut own by yum brands headquarter headquarters in Louisville Kentucky.
Exactly my Grandpa worked for KFC. The very first Store in Utah as an assistant manager. He opened 230 stores up the down the California coast and he says he saysThey have changed the recipe so much. That they have ruined it? And it's not good anymore, and that's why it's declining.
What is the future of the fast food service industry? The pricing is not sustainable. I'm 64 years old and have experienced numerous cycles of price inflation. Yet the last 5 years have been staggering, completely unprecedented. What's the end game?
Prices have increased beyond belief and service has declined exponentially. "Fast" food meant you enter, get in line, have your meal in your hands in 3 minutes (McD guidelines when I worked there 25 years ago.) eat in 10mn, get out. Nowadays you order on a screen, wait around or go sit, but you rarely have something to eat within 10 minutes. I spoke about that to the young manager, he looked at me like I was delirious.
Sandwichs! Homemade!
They will put themselves out of business. Jerks like Gavin Newsom and his $20 wage mandate don't help.
I find KFC to be wildly inconsistent. Sometimes you’ll go to one and it will be the best fast food you’ve ever had. But most of the time it’s just kind of gross and oily. The oil sometimes drips right down your arm if you aren’t careful.
I just don’t risk it anymore. I’d rather go somewhere where I know the quality will be consistent.
I totally agree. Portion size there is the same. Sometimes you get a massive piece of chicken and other times they are small with no meat on them. It makes it hard to know how much to order.
Yeah. Fried chicken has always been oily all the time. I guess "finger lickin' good" lives up to its name, isn't it?
Completely agree
Yes, I've noticed that, too. A couple of times I've had to get them to redo the order. In another case, both the food and the service were so bad, I asked for a refund and never went back. If a fast food restaurant wants to stay in business, they cannot afford to lose customers, but that idea seems to be lost on some employees.
Facts
I grew up in Kentucky and used to get my hair cut at the same barber shop as the Colonel. I even remember seeing him collecting for the Salvation Army in a shopping mall in Louisville. He was a very sweet person around children, but if he was a handful everywhere else. places. In restaurants, if he didn't like the looks of the food he was served he would throw the plate in the floor and demand that the chef do it over.
He lived in Simpsonville, Kentucky and had a restaurant called Claudia Sanders Dinner House. It is still there and owned by the family.
Thanks for sharing, might go there if I go to Kentucky in the next decade
Wow, thanks for the information. Interesting.
How dare he have high standards for his brand. Outrageous.
@@SimRacingVeteran OP said he'd do that "at restaurants", never specified them being KFCs
My problem with it is consistency. When I go to McD I get the same burger every time, no matter when or where I order it. If I go to KFC I dont know if I will get the most succulent delicious burger or some old burnt shoe. It drives me nuts.
So true, within my city I need to select a particular store to get the best chicken at that hour of the day, and then pray they do a good job
Its too complicated
You nailed it, consistency between restaurants is virtually non existent. I eat KFC all over Europe, its different everywhere. The best was in London because they were constantly making new chicken, Poland was ok. The worst was in Izmir in Turkey. You could tell the chicken was frozen than suddenly deep fried, basically very strange texture and white chicken meat. Funny this video popped up today, I had late lunch at a brand new KFC in Portugal, I was so disappointed this chicken had been fried hours before, it was dry and felt like eating crispy rubber. KFC is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you are going to get.
Too expensive Now 😮
The £5 package is rubbish
The fry potatoes are rubbish too
The reason our family stopped going to KFC back in the 90a,was their prices. They priced themselves out of the market.
Yes
And their product is crap these days.
They are really high now.
$10 for a wing and breast piece, small drink, and small side.
Prices are high and quality has gone down
Decline in quality is absolutely on point. I remember one time years ago my family and I went to KFC. Awful experience. The "Extra Crispy" was absolutely soggy and tasted like wet cardboard smells. We pretty much immediately walked out, swearing never to eat at a KFC again. It doesn't take too many families having experiences like that and making similar vows before there's just no customer base anymore.
I’m with you. The crispy sucks now. Remember when it was big crunchy pieces? Not now. Urgh
Agree. No amount of marketing can help when the product is no longer good. I used to have craving for it. But after a few disappointment, I don't really want it anymore, especially when it is unhealthy.
For me, over past few years, quality of kfc chicken had been very much hit or miss, regardless of franchise location. And recently, it had been bad almost every time. I stopped going to kfc and opt for popeyes these days. Popeyes chicken simply taste much better, though I do prefer the kfc special spices...
Pretty much. It’s been over a decade since my family went there.
I agree absolutely true
The one in Sharpsburg,Ga was so nasty that you would just leave after walking thru the door.
Around here, they used to have a $2 special on Tuesday.
It eventually got up to $3.49 before discontinued altogether.
In Montreal in 1970, a Snack Pack on Tuesdays cost $2.00, then $2.22, then $2.50 and now $2.99.
Pricing is a really serious issue as well. A 12 piece bucket of chicken at KFC is $23.99 in my area. That's just the chicken, not with any sides. My local grocery store has a hot section in the deli where they fry up fresh fried chicken every day, and a bucket of 12 pieces costs $10.99. The quality is way better than KFC by far to the point that the smell of it makes me weak in the knees. When I pass my local KFC I can smell the grease outside, and it's nauseating.
Exactly, you can get cheaper better chicken at a local grocery store's hot bar.
Oh man that grocery store chicken is to die for
Thats about what I've been doing. The local grocery store has an 8 piece for about 8 bucks, a much better deal then KFC. Tastes not really that different, arguably even better with how hit or miss KFC has gotten. Seems smarter to go with the cheaper option with consistent food quality. And yes the restaurants can be pretty nauseating.
In Mexico, a 12 piece bucket comes out at approx. $28.5. At the local supermarket, I can get a 12 piece bucket of fried chicken for approx. $6. including a 2 lt. soda and fries. Far better taste and far less oil (it's practically oil-less)
Fuck KFC.
Same. 8 piece friend chicken at the grocery is $5.99. Why would I go to KFC where the price is much higher and the quality is comparable?
A friend of mine had a KFC franchise back in the 60’s and he said Coronal Sanders was very meticulous about maintaining the quality of his food. He would visit unannounced at locations to do quality checks. After he sold the franchise things started going down.
CoLonEl Sanders had every right to, and it broke his heart to see his beloved company become diminished and disgraced by the ones whom he sold it to. (and, yes, it's spelled colonel, not coronal, as he was in the US Army as well, though didn't earn the rank of colonel)
@@abysspegasusgaming Yup. His rank in the US Army was a 'Wagoner'. The 'Colonel' title was given by the Governor of Kentucky at that time to him for help making the State famous. Around the same time where he began dressed as how the world knew him, friendly old man with white suit and a string tie
Dave Thomas used to be a KFC franchisee and he would tell stories about the Mr Sanders... Basically he told stories about how if he came to your franchise and didn't like how you were doing things he would literally take his pressure cookers out into your parking lot and run them over, and you were done as a KFC franchise.
It’s not unusual for this type of thing to happen. It’s sad but it’s not unusual.
If you tasted KFC chicken back then, you would understand why he had every right to do that. People cared about the product they created and it's not hard to just follow simple directions. People get lazy and stupid and don't know how to follow orders and then they need to be punished. @@seanpeck8748
Colonial Sanders had quality standards whereas new large companies owners have exorbitant profit goals and tend to forgo the quality.
Look at any fast food outlet, they have reduced the meal size, quality and service yet massively increased the price.
I haven't been to a fast food outlet for many years.
Notice the extensive advertising lately? They are losing money and deserve too.
Exorbitant profit goals, shrinkflation, and saturation advertising. The bitter harvest of Reaganomics and its design to put shareholder value at the top of all corporate decision making. That class should be the LAST to get paid. Not the first.
As a 57 year old man I can say if you were born after 1980 I can promise any reviews on KFC would be right! It's not even the same product as KFC from the 1960's & 70"s. I bet if I could have a time machine and retrieve a bucket of KFC from the 60's you would be astonished and more disappointed with the "KFC" they sell today. In fact it does not even look like the original in appearance. you will always hear how great it was way back then from older people, just the smell and taste of it back then was like Heroin, once you had it once you begged your parents to buy more. Sounds like I'm joking, but I'm not. This thing they call KFC today is more like the Starbucks of take out food for a variety of options nobody asked for looking for chicken ONLY!
I live in Japan and KFC is crazy busy for Christmas. Some slick marketing gave KFC the image as the traditional Christmas meal in Japan. They have order forms to fill out weeks in advance to reserve your Christmas fried chicken.
I heard KFC good out there.
I love the commercials! People don’t believe when I tell them In Japan Christmas and Mother’s Day are KFC heavy
And ITS BETTER THAN THE STATES. WHERE IT GODDAMN ORIGINATED FROM
Apparently it originated because Japanese people wanted to emulate the turkey Christmas dinner they'd seen on American movies and TV shows, and KFC was the closest thing they had
@@JacksonOfTheJerry KFC in Asia and Australia is a completely different beast to what's in the US. You go Indonesia, Japan and Australia and it's completely different but kind of the same - the menus are tailored to local tastes. It's popular in the Philippines as well but Mcdonalds and Jollibee reign supreme there for fast food places. It's fried chicken but not as greasy as what I experienced in the US. The conglomerate that owns KFC - Yum Foods has failed spectacularly with Taco Bell in these areas as a side note. Taco Bells popularity in the US would probably have most people confused in these areas.
i recently went to Japan and thought i’d give their KFC a try. it was the greatest thing ever, and brought me back to how it used to taste as a kid. a restaurant hardly ever just starts declining. the decline almost always starts on their end with the ingredients and cleanliness.
When I went on a solo 5 day tripa few years back, it was on my itinery to visit one, but I wasn't really hungry when one was nearby, and there was none in the next area. I'll definitely try it if/when I visit again 🥺
KFC in France is also amazing!
Because young Americans don’t take pride in their work anymore
KFC is only declining in the US. In the Caribbean, KFC is still pretty huge. Judging by the way Americans react to KFC in the Caribbean, I'm going to assume that KFC in America just tastes bad.
Kfc In Canada is amazing
Anything owned by shareholders becomes complete garbage.
Used to be a time when it was ok taking your first ‘date’ out to eat at KFC. It was ‘prime time’ food back then. But these days, taking your lady out on the first date to KFC is like taking her to McDonald’s or Burger-king. She might not talk to you anymore.🤷🏼😅😂🤣
In 1974 I went to a " grand opening " of a KFC. COL SANDERS was greeting the customers. His wife had passed away about 6 months earlier. He looked so tired and frail. I felt so sorry for him. His handlers should have let him simply retire.... I am sure I was not alone in this sentiment......
He didn't want to retire. He wanted to be a part of KFC. The company tried to tell him that it was no longer his company but he couldn't figure it out. He still went into franchise restaurants and told them how to run their business.
Friends ALL these calamity's that are going on around the world will lead to a Sunday Law Which will The Mark Of The Beast, Those that keep Gods seventh day sabbath will be prohibited from buying and sell and persecuted. Jesus is coming are you ready?
In 1974, you went to a grand opening of Kentucky Fried Chicken. it didn't become KFC until 1991. That marked the beginning of the decline of civilization. No longer did citizens need to learn how to read or spell.
@@kentbetts : He should have told them how to cook the chicken, because today it is not the same taste as it used to be, not as good. Also, the cole slaw used to be so good too, but now it's not. I have never seen such small chicken either. They need to get back to the "secret recipe" and hire people who know how to actually cook.
Thanks for Sharing.
Unlike Sam Walton who use to do the same thing(greet people at his stores), the Colonel wasn’t a scumbag.
I used to teach English in Tokyo, and let me tell you how big of a sensation KFC is. Every Christmas, it's a national tradition, especially in bigger cities, to get KFC. It started as a marketing move, and it has very clearly stuck. I'm aware of how big KFC is in Korea, Taiwan, and China as well, but I'm not aware of any Christmas tradition. If someone knows if it exists, let me know. But yeah, in Japan, KFC has become enshrined in Japanese culture.
Last time I was in Japan (about 6 years ago) I too learned just how popular it is in Japan.
and the tradition is viewed as having come from america
The tradition is viewed as that it's an American tradition that's why it's popular because of that perception. It was started by a Japanese KFC franchisee I think in the '70s or '80s and it just became belief that Americans did it so the Japanese would do it lol. Even though in America we either do ham or turkey (sometimes duck,etc)
@@evilmejosh MatPat did a video about it that was kind of interesting ruclips.net/video/pkzQvXYa1ec/видео.html
@@andygraning2190 yeah I saw a video on it from somebody else too. It's really interesting marketing move, that's created a cultural tradition
KFC has gotten too expensive. The last time I went there will probably be the last because of the cost. I ordered a 9-piece bucket with just breasts and thighs. Half original and half extra crispy with 3 large sides. It was $51.00. Also, the PERFECT potato wedges and the stuffing are no longer being sold. The chicken is not as tasty as it was originally. I think they took out some of the salt. No one ever went there because fried chicken was healthy. We went there because it used to be good. Now, it's too expensive and not so good.
Soaking chickens in salt before frying isn’t the same as the customer sprinkling salt on the cooked pieces.
@@WW3_Soon That may be true but, no one went to KFC every day.
Me too and it's definitely not worth it.
In London, hundreds of small-chain and independent fried chicken shops opened, many of questionable quality. KFC is now no longer better in quality than these, but charges twice as much.
Dehydrated mashed potato flakes; watery gravy; dry crumbly biscuits; soggy breading on the original recipe chicken. All of these have occurred far too many times for me to go back there.
As soon as these places are subsumed into a conglomerate, they start to optimize for low cost. KFC and Taco Bell are perfect examples.
HEY! The gravy is NOT watery, as pure used Ford pickup oil is used as gravy!
Here in France, I find KFC is still the same as McDonald's, it's all very low in terms of expectations. Specialized restaurants have seduced customers over the last decade biting off competing companies like KFC. And also, why does my stomach always hurt after eating their chicken?
Exactly right. Once the founders sold (Sanders and Bell) and the suits take over, it’s all about the bottom line. Ironically, their food eventually tastes like bottom and not the good kind.
I totally agree 👍
Instant potatoes that have to be drank along with the gravy, if you can stand all the salt .
Corn on the cob is as tough as ole field corn 🌽 used to feed animals.
It's a complete kick in the head paying so much for no more than you get.
We don't go to KFC anymore. Same skimpy portions at taco Bell. A couple flimsy tacos for $20.00 bucks .
Our local KFCs serve a grey, mushy, slimy breading on the chicken. Totally inedible. Even the dogs refused it.
Our local location of Kentucky Fried Chicken had a major fire. Instead of repairing the building, they closed the restaurant and tore down the location. It’s still an empty lot.
i got two near me one has taco bell and kfc, the other city has taco in diffrent area and kfc in diffrent area as well. I mean i didn't go to that one cause parking lot look horrible run down... though i say is very clean in store but it very costly for kfc
Perhaps it was insurance fraud. Then again, with the awful economy it may have simply been the company viewing it as a sign from above.
The KFC that I usually went to growing up had a health violation a few years back, but I never eat there anymore anyways. The quality seems to have gone downhill for years, and the last time I went the service was some of the worst I’ve ever experienced.
I'm sure they ran the numbers and figured out the insurance settlement was more than they'd make from the location in 20 years. Take the money and run...
Burned down? Lucky you!
Same old corporate story, cynically cut corners, cut costs and cut quality.
When I was a little girl going to the mall with my mom, I'd always pick KFC whenever we went to the food court and that was the only fast food I liked for a good few years. But then I slowly started to notice the change in quality and some things even started to taste bland. A few times it even upset my stomach and made me nauseous. I don't know if it'll disagree with me now, but it's not worth the price anymore.
Would love to see a sister video about KFC in international markets! I know Japan in particular has a tradition of everyone eating KFC on Christmas to the point where you have to order it months in advance
Japan at least will hire their own unlike Canada who rather hire one race as they are part of the racist hiring practices currently taking place in Canada #deportindia #indiansarenotwelcomeincanada
It's big in Jamaica too. They call it Keep From Cooking
KFC grew from Japans food shortage after WW2 & was the first resaturant to aid
Sounds like that scene from 1993's "Demolition Man" where in the near future they pull up to a 4-star restaurant and it's a Taco Bell.
@@Raskolnikov70 Taco Bell won the "franchise Wars" that movie is underrated.
That Oprah coupon thing was a life saver. I was in college with just enough money to put gas in the car when I heard about it. Me and my buddies ate for weeks at KFC. We just kept printing coupons! I salute you Colonel!
Those original little snacker sandwiches were my college lifesaver!
@@dk60ish I feel bad for the owners of the locations that were just barely getting by who were sunk by people who decided to do this. Oprah should have had to pay for it all. The individual franchises had no heads-up on this.
@@Author.Noelle.Alexandria Well, that's why coupons are only accepted at participating locations.
LOL, that thing did not happen at my store, it never even was accepted.
Fast food overseas is much better. It is considered more a luxury and the food and locations are much nicer. The ones in Ecuador are much better than the 40 year old, aging buildings with greasy food here.
Went to KFC with my granddaughter a few years back I noticed a employee looking at my granddaugther and laughing as he was preparing my order. When I got home, the order was not close to what I ordered. I was afraid to eat the mashed potatoes because or what he might have put inside of them. I threw to order away. I have never returned to a KFC. In fact I am hesitant to go to any fast food restaurant.
What happened to the deep frying pressure cookers?
I moved to a city with a Popeyes. That was pretty much the end of KFC for me. Popeyes is inconsistent sometimes too, but when they miss, they don't miss badly. When KFC misses, they roll a natural 1 and fail catastrophically.
I'm from New Orleans. Never understood why anyone ate anything other than Popeyes. 😁😁😁
Side Note: I was in NYC the day their first Popeyes opened. People lost their minds.
Facts
I’m 😊😊😊😊😊
Popeyes is terrible. I've tried it twice. I don't know what they coat their chicken with, but it's terrible. KFC is better. But El Pollo Loco remains the best fast food chicken you can buy. If you're looking for the best chicken sandwich, go to Chick-fil-A.
@@thehighllama8101 Oh man, El Pollo Loco was amazing. Used to eat there all the time when I went to the University of Nevada-Reno. They don't have it in Seattle though.
Quality is the killer. One of my first jobs way back when I was 17 years old was a KFC as a cook. I still remember to this day how meticulous the manager and assistant manager were about quality control (as well as cleanliness of the store). They would literally sample every tray of chicken that came out, every bisquit tray, the slaw...you name it. And more so, they could tell when even the slightest thing was off just by appearance and taste of the food. They'd know if the chicken wasn't marinated long enough, or if the bisquit dough wasn't mixed properly simply by taste, and if it wasn't right, they would not allow it to be sold and we'd have to make more...lol, no joke. Nowadays that type of dedication to product quality, and pride in who they were barely exists. I walk into a KFC now, taste the food and it's merely a shadow of what it once was back in the day. That's the simple fact.
was also less illegals in america in the 80's.
@@ChickenMcThiccken I is funny how we have a similar situation in Russia. MacDonalds would only hire Russian and Belorussian citizens, respect underage labour laws and would have stringent quality control. KFC on the other hand hires illegal migrats doesn't mind teenagers working night shifts (which is a violation of Russian labour laws) and somehow manages to be 50% more expensive.
@@ChickenMcThiccken Sure that's it. How about this? Stop being an a$$ hole.
@@ChickenMcThiccken false analogy
That's how am with Popeyes macaroni and cheese. God love that stuff! It's so delicious. Makes me nut
They closed the one in my city last month honestly since they got rid of the popcorn chicken and mojos i feel like it went downhill and the prices got crazy
My biggest issue with KFC is the lack of taste compared to the flavour of the 70s and 80s.
Kfc in Jamaica is crazy popular, it's honestly a staple brand and it tastes really good (I would recommend it to anyone if you visit).... I tried KFC in the U.S. once and as I was ordering the cashier asked if I was Jamaican, when I said yes she told me that the chicken wasn't like my country's and I'm going to be disappointed and I was ☹️.... It's funny how she had to prepare me for it 😂
Yup.
Had it in Negril, Jamaica and your right it was amazing. Plus the seafood items weren't bad either
That's honestly hilarious that she knew your expectations were going to be too high😄
Their chicken breast taste uncooked
thailand kfc is great too
At one time the famous 11 herbs and spices coating tested great. Now it just tastes of salt and pepper here in the UK. What happened to the rest?
The Colonel’s secret recipe got exposed. He didn’t even invent the recipe for the chicken we all took for granted.
Something you missed in this video, which is great by the way. Price. They got too expensive, even before the pandemic and inflation.
Right now in my area, just a 16 piece bucket of chicken in $30.99 not including tax. For that amount, I can go to my local Kroger and get 16 pieces of fried chicken ($12), a carton of microwaveable mashed potatoes ($3.99) 2 cans of veggies ($1) and 4 6 packs of soda ($12) and still have a few bucks left over. There was a time when the prices at KFC were reasonable.
Way too expensive!! I went order a 8pcs family meal the other day, thinking it was still $20... Nope $29 dollar's for 8pcs of chicken, instant potatoes, powder gravy, and 4 biscuits... No thanks, I can make it better at home for less than half the price!!!
Yeah they're competing with sit-down restaurants at that point.
To be fair that's also because the price of chicken in general spiked first before general inflation
I may be wrong but it seems like other countries have higher standards for their food than we do. Maybe that's why it taste better overseas. On the price in 2022, even with all the inflation, KFC's prices haven't gone up. I don't think it's as good as it used to be though.
In Los Angeles just last week, the price for an 8 piece bucket with two side was 30.99 not including tax. I was shocked! Odds are I won't be back anytime soon.
As a trucker I have been to several KFC'S, the quality of the food varies greatly. Some of the stores where so dirty I didn't even order. It has become a far cry from the KFC of the 60's and 70's.
In some franchises it seems like corporate gives up. They stop inspecting the stores telling when to replace lights bulbs, signs, or renovate. The stores get dirty and rundown looking some bulbs out in the sign.
I was born in the 90s and I remeber kfc used to be greasy and succulent but not dirty you know? Now it's just dry and dirty
Yeah exactly. One doesn't know anymore what he'll get.
You even the KFCs in the hood don't taste right.
@@aliasofanalias7448 born in 68, had one of the franchises the Colonel personally taught the owner nearby, it was incredibly good, so good kids saved their nickels just to get a meal, 3 piece, only had the 3 piece meal, mashed taters, slaw & a biscuit, or gtfo, it stayed great until the owners son lost it in a divorce in the 80’s, overnight it went to crap, I miss Kentucky Fried Chicken, you can keep kfc whatever the hell that cap is
KFC in Jamaica 🇯🇲 and Japan 🇯🇵 are so good and affordable, it’s completely the opposite in the USA 🇺🇸
For a while (in the late 1970s ?) there was a Holly Farms food/chicken fastfood place that had decent fried/broiled? chicken and one of the features was the "Liver Dinner" chicken liver that was about as good as chicken liver could be made,a Liver Dinner made a good addition to two or three regular order chicken lunches (a bit much for just eating all of it and not any regular chicken)
I drive for Doordash in Missoula, MT. Here's a factoid: I can't recall getting more than one order request to go to KFC despite the fact that I've completed over 1,025 pickups and deliveries.
Meanwhile, I pickup at Chick-fil-A multiple times each day and Popeye's multiple times each week.
I also drive by KFC regularly; I see their parking lot empty most of the time.
Fuck kfc
Very interesting, cheers brother
Popeyes is too greasy. Culver's has the best fried chicken 🍗. I still love kfc extra crispy.
They’re still popular in African American and Muslim communities
I agree, I do DD in the south and every KFC is also a Taco bell, I get orders from Taco Bell all day but never KFC. Never see anyone coming in to buy it either.
I worked for KFC. The biggest disaster to the taste of the food was a change in handling the spices. At first the chicken was washed in the egg wash, then rolled in the herbs and spices, then rolled in flour, this kept the spices close to the chicken so the flavour was crisped into the meat. But then they switched to including the spices in the egg wash, followed by the flour, so the spices were not rolled into the skin of the chicken, thus hardly any taste was left Also switching from gas cookers to electrics cookers with a shorter precook and higher pressure cook period did not as evenly cook the meat.
I started at KFC 28 years ago and the egg was powdered and mixed with spices into the flower which chicken was rolled in (after dunking in water). How long ago were you there?
@@braddeicide 1971 to 1977.
Have you never made chicken before? Putting spices in the egg wash is far better, actually what you just described is the exact same thing.
The egg wash literally combines with the flour and spices into one whole layer. If it didn't you wouldn't be able to have fried chicken because you would never form a crust.
@@user-mc6dg6qe8l That's his point. He liked when KFC did it that way, they later switched to water wash, then pressing the chicken into an industrial sized bag of flower that has a packet of powdered egg and a packet of spices mixed through it.
@@braddeicide sure that must be it
If he thought it was bad in the 70's and 80's, today's KFC it would send him into a total conniption fit and make his head explode.
In the 70's and 80's it was actually full size chicken pieces. Now it's like baby chick pieces.
I met the Colonel when I was 12 years old on my way to play Little League Baseball and I had missed dinner. The small local family grocery store at the end of my street had just been converted into something called Kentucky Fried Chicken and there was an older gentleman in a white suit standing alone in front of the new establishment. I went over to him to ask what the new place was all about and he explained that it served the best fried chicken sold anywhere. I said I had a baseball game but would come back tomorrow with money to try this new chicken. He smiled and asked an employee to give me a dinner for free !! This was very exciting and the food was excellent. The fries were exceptional from what I was used to and it was all very exciting. I did not quite understand that he was the owner of a huge chain of KFCs entering Canada.
KFC in the 🇺🇸 is the worst it’s just salty and very unhealthy. Best KFC I’ve eaten is in Jamaica 🇯🇲 I heard the rest of Caribbean KFCs are great also
@@adrianno9585 Yes that’s true. I would add that the chicken now at least in Canada is somewhat greasy on top of what you said, however in the 1960s I remember it being so much better and miles above the other choices that were out there. I think we have to see KFC as an important historical part of the creation of the fast food industry. There are many unhealthy choices out there and KFC is just one of them. I don’t eat it a lot now, but when I do I have happy memories of having it as a child and meeting the Colonel : )
Hey great story thanks for telling us, I eat KFC now and then I am glad they kept his image for the brand
@@roymcewen8203 well to be honest who would have thought the place where it was invented it’s so distasteful. They have butchered the colonel recipe and I would like to think he is turning in his grave. I hope you cherish those memories.
Awesome,,,wish I could have met the guy,,,,best chicken ever,,,,good luck ....
I think of KFC the same way I think of Subway. For years they were the only fast food restaurant offering their particular type of food, and they got huge and complacent. Now there are several other chains offering the same type of food but better quality, there's little reason to keep going to the original.
I also think that being publicly traded will universally result in a lower quality product.
That's a great point I'm not sure CM covered as well as he could have in the video. I'd been going to KFC since the early 70's and saw in real time how the quality dropped as more and more fried chicken places opened up. The one that gave them stiff competition in my town was Roy Rogers/Hardee's. They offered fried chicken of similar quality for WAY cheaper because it was only one item on a large menu. You could bring a bunch of people there when some people (but not everyone) wanted fried chicken and people could order whatever they wanted. KFC did try to branch out a bit but they could never compete with another big fast food chain offering a similar and cheaper product.
It's true, I think its about complacency. They were big in the 90s and they just kinda stopped trying. The newer companies are doing something new or just keeping up with the times.
For sure, Chik-Fil-A, Zaxbys, and Popeyes destroy KFC. Then you have Jersey Mike's, Firehouse Subs, and Jimmy John's putting Subway out of business.
That bottom statement is completely true. A family member of mine used to work for UPS when they were still a private company and said that the company actually cared for the workers, gave their employees stuff like turkeys for Thanksgiving, etc.
All of that stopped once UPS went public. As somebody that used to work at Worldport (UPS's Global Hub), nobody working there gives a shit. UPS employs at least 80% college kids to do the work but there's no accountability. I could throw your package around, smash it down in the bags, etc. and there was no consequences.
It's the leveraged buyout that kills the corporation. The buying corporation raises the price and reduces the value to try to payback the bonds it took out within 5-6 years. But this destroys the purchased company as it drives away customers who might not come back.
I was in a meeting in 1970s with COL. sanders. I was so star-struck
My issue with KFC has been the flavour ... I remember as a child and young adult, loving the zingy taste of the herbs & spices flavour, but now, I’ve gone several times hoping that the previous times were just ‘bad days’ but there is 0 flavour. The chicken tastes like cardboard, the fries have no flavour and the gravy (which was one of my favourites) is about as tasty as tap water.
Kfc fried chicken 🍗 🐔 is stale unless it a freshly made; French fries 🍟 are bad & biscuits are terrible; bring back potatoes wedges
@@loydkline wtf did I just read
@tetrafuse3096 don:t like Kentucky fried chicken 🍗 chicken unless it fresh made French fries are bad like potatoes wedges alot better; biscuits are terrible
@@loydkline why cant you just talk like a normal person
@@loydkline I AGREED with you bring back potato wedges and bbq pulled chicken sandwich and ill go buy a meal
I was a teen in the 60s and actually worked at the local KFC for a short time. The one thing I miss and almost no one remembers is the original gravy. It was real thick and fresh made style gravy. Not like the “Motor oil” looking liquid they call gravy today. We would get a quart of gravy and a dozen rolls (biscuits) and just eat it alone. They changed the rolls also. If that gravy recipe was still around it would be gold.
I doubt you know or remember the gravy recipe but just out of curiosity since you did work there did you seen how it was made or at least tried to replicate the gravy?
it do be motor oil lookin tho
@@damonlam9145 I worked at KFC from 1968 for 8 years. That gravy was made by straining the oil used during frying and using this bits that were left over (like we make gravy at home today). We used the seasoned flour to mix with the bits and added water. It WAS delish. We went through at least 6 gallons a day. I shudder to think what that stuff they call gravy is now but it's tasteless. BTW: wwe used solid Kraft shortning to cook the chicken...not oil. All our chickens were the same size. They had to be since they were cooked with timer and cooked under pressure.
They ran out of biscuits for 6 months, charged the same without the extra item.
The Colonel would have a stroke if he tried the Chicken today.
The single biggest problem with KFC is the changes in cooking the chicken. In fact, there's a video on RUclips SHOWING how they cooked the chicken back in the 60's and it's brilliant. When I was a kid growing up in the 60's, I LOVED KFC and there was a location just down the street that I lived on. When they were cooking it up, the smells blanketed half a block and it made your mouth water. NOW, go anywhere near a location as they're cooking and the smells make you want to throw up. I would make a suggestion that they take a few locations and go back to cooking the food like they did in the 60's. Could call it CLASSIC KFC and I predict they would blow the competition out of the water.
I can't figure out why Church's hasn't grabbed the loose ball and headed for the goal line. Their chicken was way better than KFC for at least 35 years. And all I've seen Church's do in the past 20 years is close restaurants. Stupid idiots.
I agree KFC has changed alot since the early 80's when I first had it, its nowhere near as nice now. Something in the recipe has changed drastically and I think the colonel would turn in his grave if he knew.
Back in the 60's, you can use lard or bacon fat as the oil to cook the chickens. That's what made the chicken tasting finger licking good.
@@JohnSmith-nj4zq That's what they were using, Lard. Could still use it today but they switched out because it was too expensive and then fed us BS about how it was so bad for us.
Seemed like the venting stopped when the owner died , tables and chairs were covered in grease (you can write your name in the grease film) . Also , get the aluminum out of the biscuits , and put real honey in the “honey” packets (corn syrup and sugar is not the same as honey)
Simple. They stopped being *Kentucky Fried Chicken* and started being KFC once they got bought out by Pepsi. Like its subsidiary brother Pizza Hut it did away with the original ingredients. They'd rather prioritize gimmick food over quality food. Which only some chains such as Taco Bell can get away with. And last but not least its too expensive. Nobody wants to break their wallet over disgusting food.
I worked at Pizza Hut for years in the 90's, through the whole TriCon/YUM transition, and they did the opposite there. "Lightning Bolt" was their program in 1997 to improve the quality of their pizza and it was a huge success. That's also around the time they bought the stuffed crust concept which was probably one of the biggest fast food success stories in decades. They'd tried a bunch of those gimmicky concepts over the years but finally did the one thing that people really wanted - improved the quality of their product - and it was a massive success.
Of course that was 20+ years ago and their quality has dropped off significantly. It cost a lot of money at the time to replace canned/dried ingredients with fresh ones and I guess once they'd recaptured a bunch of market share doing that they went back to cost-cutting and scrimping on quality. Domino's and Toppers (a regional chain in the midwest) are both way better than PH these days.
You should watch this channel's video on Pizza Hut, he blames their decline partly on their not doing gimmicky pizza anymore. That said, what works for pizza may not work for fried chicken.
All I know is they either changed their recipe or the way they cooked the 🐔 not too long ago. I always crave KFC, go buy a box, lowkey regret it and then drop it for months. It's a vicious cycle.
Taco Bell will destroy your anus if you have it too much.
I think KFC outside America also try novelty gimmicks (I live in the Philippines and I remember they made a chicken pizza... it's pizza but the "bread" part is fried chicken). But KFC is still pretty good here. Popeye's recently entered the market and I don't know if it'll be able to catch up.
The biggest reason KFC is in decline their employees rather be on is there cell phones
I went to KFC 3 days ago at 6pm, waiting 15min in drive through got to the box to order and was told that they were out of original chicken i was like ok what do u have the girl said xtra crispy so i said give it to me cringing cos i dont like it then she said theres a 15min WAIT smh .... i backed my car up and left - fuck it... how could u b a chicken restaurant and have no fucking chicken??? Hense the problem....
I'm from a time when KFC mashed potatoes and gravy were made from scratch.
When I was a kid with a single Mom who was also a college student, going to KFC was a treat.
I remember the days when the potatoes and gravy were great. Now the potatoes taste like a box of dehydrated potato flakes, that they've added too much water to them. The gravy taste like salty wallpaper paste.
Same for me. My family didn't have much and KFC was like a birthday or special occasion treat. The food used to way better but also more expennive. Seems like prices haven't risen all that much but they've sacrificed quality massively.
Something definitely has changed. About 4 years ago I had KFC, it was horrible, nothing like the KFC I remember as a kid.
for some reason no one can seem to notice the correlation between KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and many other chains being bought by Yum Brands then taking a dive in quality again and again and again as they use cheaper and cheaper products and often upped the filler and used ingredients that mimicked the real thing and are nothing but a cocktail of chemicals. I've even pointed it out and the cognitive dissonance kicks in high gear and they mutter on about other NPC versions of reality where it's not the same people having bought and wrecked all those chains. Look at any restaurant under the Yum Brands umbrella and tell me everyone of them wasnt a complete 180 in food quality and cooking processes during the late 90's.
Tastes change and you get use to better food as you get older in a lot of cases. Didn't even like them much as a kid (other than the fried chicken original skin. And their sides have always been awful.
@@DieWitnessWell that's fried chicken in general.
I agree with your comment completely. I stopped at a KFC in Cheyenne, Wyoming while traveling. I was a ways away from Cheyenne. When I pulled over to eat, there was a piece of plastic webbing in the chicken caulked into the coating. KFC was a regular dinner for me after my wife passed away. Not anymore I haven’t been to a KFC since that happened. I sent feedback to the company and of course I got no response.
@@repentandbelieveinJesusChrist2shut up!
We haven't been to KFC for years. Every time we got KFC, everyone had diarrhea! Greasy food gave us a clean out. Went to getting fried chicken at the local grocery store. They make great pressure fried chicken at a fraction of the price.
Here in South Africa I think it's the biggest fast food chain
Can’t believe you didn’t mention the price. It is ridiculously expensive. And at a time when you could buy a supermarket rotisserie chicken for 5$. Also their pieces were not thigh breast etc but often broken up halves of pieces.
the price is definetly the biggest issue. I havent eaten KFC since 2011 when the double down came out. Their 10 piece is like $50 bucks wtf
Rotisserie chicken is a loss-leader in most supermarkets. They lose money on the chicken to lure customers into the store. Notice the chicken is located far from the store entrance?
@@williewonka6694 You mean in front of the check-out aisles? Along with the baked bread?
Places like Wal-Mart would get those customers anyway, the cheap food is just another razor-thin profit margin they accept to eliminate the competition.
Nah it's not the price, it's the quality. bb.q Chicken (a Korean fried chicken joint) recently came to my town. It costs literally twice as much as KFC, yet they're *always* slammed to the point where they often have to close early due to running out of chicken. You want to know why? Because it's some of the most delicious fried chicken one could have. It's so tantalizingly juicy and has *just* the right amount of crispiness. KFC always comes out mushy and overcooked, even if you order extra crispy. *That's* why they're failing. Price has nothing to do with it.
Because their chicken smells like sewage-literally. Cheap, poorly managed chicken supply. Ate it i the 70’s-80’s couldn’t eat it now.
High price was the absolute reason that I stopped buying KFC chicken. At one time, Popeyes chicken was selling ten pieces for $10 while KFC was double the cost so I abandoned KFC all together as a customer. Unfortunately, with the down fall of KFC, Popeyes has now doubled or even tripled their price so nowadays, I just spend my money to eat in restaurants instead of fast food places.
Popeyes opened near us four years ago. We went there once. Never again. We waited 45 minutes for our eat-in order. The staff was too busy waiting on the drive through, I guess. When we finally got our food, it wasn't worth the wait. Lukewarm at best and only so-so.
No kidding, you can eat at many nice sit-down restaurants now for about the same price they charge for fast food. And don't get me started on the employees they hire nowadays. When I pull up I often just get a blank stare, not saying anything to me. They hand me the bag and off I go, never a word exchanged. Fast food places are hiring anyone with a pulse - no customer service skills required.
Thats what happened in the late 90s no lie
8 for $10 now so I buy again... but chester fried can be better for less.
In the 60's & 70's the chicken was great. Now it's crap - not making money? Go figure that !
The decline of ALL these classic restaurants boils down to one thing. The demographic of the people who now run them all. They've run everything they've touched into the ground.
Prices are astronomical! 1:15
I switched from KFC to Popeyes when KFC raised their prices a few years ago. You could get more for $9 at Popeyes than for $11 at KFC, and I never looked back.
I switched to Popeyes too but now I'm team chick fil a
Plus, Popeye's has better chicken.
Seemed like KFC was always expensive. Not compared to a sit-down full-service restaurant, but for fast food it was way overpriced. Even back in the 80's and 90's ordering a full meal + drink ran you over $10 which was the price point where fast food stopped feeling fast.
My wife got me hooked on the chicken sandwiches at Popeyes; I tried the similar fare at KFC, and likely won't do so again.
Idk it's pretty much the same i just like the cajun flavor alot more
My biggest complaint is the customer service. Nearly every time I’ve been there the employees act like I’m inconveniencing them by ordering food.
Exactly. And often none of them speak English (or pretend that they don't).
I dont eat there often anymore because all i get is a 6-8 piece wing box, and they were confused even tho its on the menu, yet when i ordered doordash there wasnt any issue.
@@ninjitsuliz9812 Every time I place an order, they act like they have no idea what I'm talking about when I'm reading directly off of the menu.
@@nukemall3678 Exactly!
this is a problem with most fast food joints tbfh
As a previous KFC worker, I can confirm the employees and the manager was unprofessional; before they shut down in yucca valley the supervisor was under arrest for selling drugs to an under cover cop (which lead to the manager being arrested) I was also never payed for my over time and had me slaving in that kitchen for months as the only cook
Colonel used to check taste the gravy himself every day, he was the ultimate stickler for quality.
I can tell you exactly what happened, I experienced it first hand recently: the owners have no idea what’s going on and they have no idea how to train, or put in place leaders to train their staff.
Popeyes. That's what happened.
We had a Popeye’s where I live until it closed before Covid. I did like them but it was just a bit too spicy for me! I’ll give them another try when I can find one!
My issue is that every other time I go they are out of chicken. 😂
I've worked at 2 KFC's and I think a big reason for their bad reputation in the US is poor customer service. Managers had no problem with their employees literally yelling at customers and the hiring criteria was basically just "can you walk?"
I saw a restaurant comparison clip recently, and it said KFC has the worst order accuracy of ALL restaurants. Chick-fil-A was the best with Wendy's second.
The KFC in my small town looks like it's about to fall apart and hasn't been updated in 20 years. With "shrinkflation" nowadays the pieces are tiny and whatever meat that is left on the bone is fried to nothing. Agreed the customer service is lacking - the employees don't know the difference between original and extra crispy, thigh vs breast - wing vs leg. Tried to give me 2 thighs and 2 legs in a 4 piece combo and I was like AW HELL NAW!
I haven't been to a KFC in 2 years because my last experience was so bad. I ordered a simple chicken tender combo and they told me to park my car on the side and they would bring it out in a few min. I waited for 20 min and decided to go inside where to my surprise were a lot of other angry people wanting their orders. At that point, the workers were just serving orders based on which customer was the most angry and in their face about it, not by who placed their order first. After the angry crowd cleared, the store manager started putting my order together and just in the middle of prepping it, walked outside for a cigarette and 5 minutes later came back and finished it. It literally took me 1 hour from the time of ordering to actually receiving my chicken strips.
@@andrewwomble2722 Years ago, I was waiting a really long time in the drive-thru, and I started doing something to occupy myself. The line pulled up and I hadn't noticed, and the manager yelled "Hurry up!" to me very rudely. Never went there again. Jerk.
@@ronk9830 The Wendy's that are by me tend to mess up.or forget Items to Orders often.
I have never seen a KFC store in my life. The closest one according to google maps is a 15+ hour drive away.
Another iconic restaurant gone forever. My last visit was at least 5 years ago and sadly enough my hopes were dashed right away realizing it was obvious that no matter which KFC I tried, it was aweful.
I grew up in the sixties with KFC, and find it amazing how employees in those days were men in their mid 20's to thirties, supporting families, and then when fast food outlets became synonymous with outsourcing, and hiring cheap labor, everything went downhill!
couldn't agree more. honestly kinda shows why society nowadays is in a sense, a failure.
Illegal immigrants and legal immigrants coming from dirt hole countries.
@@tomspencer4371 lol I've seen tons of meth heads from the boonies too
@@15collitm Meth heads are everywhere unfortunately.
not only that. when they started making fast food companies change the recipes because of trans fat
mcdonalds isn't close to what it used to be, barely tolerable at some locations
even pizza pizza is not the same pizza as it used to be
I remember KFC after church on a Sunday would be packed and it was hard to get a booth or a table. People would wait on you at KFC like a real restaurant and take your order. Those memories of my dad and my grandad is what I have left. When they're gone they're gone. Some of the best times of my life and I didn't even know it.
" you don't know what you have until it's gone" sums up nostalgia 😢
I believe it! I thought that when I moved back south to Virginia, that it would be safe to try them again. High prices, bad attitude by employees, and pitiful products has me saying NEVER AGAIN!
Not sure about the others here, but 12 pieces of original recipe: $32. Ridiculous!
You must live in California!!
My 5 reasons:
1. Soggy, oily chicken
2. Small sized pieces
3. Expensive
4. In a bucket order, you got the pieces they had too many of
5. The inside restaurant always seemed dirty and greasy
The last time I was at a KFC, the chicken had a strange after taste, so I stopped going there. That was ten years ago.
I had the hope that a new location near me would be a clean and pleasant place to be in, but even then, it was just a gross place to be in. The drinks machine was moldy, for example.
@@andreabutitsruth yes cost me $58.78 "for
Potato chicken
idl about this but is this only applied to your country, you should need to see how's my country Malaysia's KFC
@@erossinema8797 - Plenty of times they don't even have the famous spice on the chicken! It's just bland, sub-par chicken.
The price for KFC is completely outrageous. Remember back in the day, they had weekend sales on buckets of chicken and their take out locations had lines out the door and down the street
The price is cheaper than many fast foods......
@Pete391 Dude I don't know where the hell YOU have been eating but paying 20.00 for 8 pieces of chicken is OUTRAGEOUS. Paying 36.00 for 12 pieces of chicken, and you think THAT'S REASONABLE? YOU'RE DEFINITELY DELUSIONAL.
$4 worth of 8 pieces of chicken they sell for $30. their stores are always empty when walking by for lunch and dinner every day. cant imagine why.
@@BobRooney290 ABSOLUTELY agree!!
The price on everything these days is outrageous.