KFC was created by Colonel Harland Sanders , an American entrepreneur who began selling his fried chicken recipe in Corbin, Kentucky, and later franchised it as “Kentucky Fried Chicken” in the early 1950s.

Quick Scoop

  • The full name of the founder is Harland David Sanders, later widely known as “Colonel Sanders.”
  • He developed the signature pressure-fried chicken and secret blend of 11 herbs and spices at his roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, during the 1930s.
  • The first official Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise opened in 1952 in Salt Lake City, Utah, operated by franchisee Pete Harman, using Sanders’ recipe and branding.

A Bit Of Backstory

  • Sanders started as a gas station and café operator, cooking chicken for travelers, and refined his recipe and cooking method over years of trial and error.
  • After recognizing that franchising could spread his chicken more widely, he began traveling restaurant to restaurant, offering his recipe in exchange for a share of sales, which laid the foundation for the KFC chain known today.

Today’s KFC

  • KFC has grown from Sanders’ single roadside operation into a global fast-food chain with tens of thousands of outlets worldwide, now owned by Yum! Brands.
  • Even though ownership has changed, Sanders’ image and story remain central to KFC’s branding, appearing in logos, advertising, and restaurant decor.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.