The Incredible Story of the Colonel
Follow the adventurous life of the Colonel and the story of how KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken came to be– and immerse yourself in the most authentic American Dream, in the spirit of the enterprise man managed to achieve all by himself, surpassing enormous difficulties, never to surrender, relying only on his determination, creativity and vision.
Birth of a legend
Colonel Harland Sanders was born in Henryville, in the state of Indiana. It isHe was the oldest of three brothers of ain an Anglo-Irish family. Anglo-Irish
A tough childhood
The childhood of Harland was not easy: losing his father when he was a child, he worked various odd jobs to help support the family. His mother taught him how to cook!
Mille works!
Harland worked various odd jobs: he worked for a steam ferries company, as an insurer, seller of bulbs, tire salesman, secretary of a chamber of commerce, obstetrician. At night, he studied law by correspondence and became a lawyer.
The gunfight!
Living in Nashvile, during the Great Depression, Shell offered him to manage a gas station, but the competition with the rival Standard Oil gas station, , run by Matt Stewart, ended in a gunfight: Stewart killed a Shell employee, who was a friend of Harland's, and Harland returned fire wounding Stewart in the shoulder!
Arriving in Kentucky
Harland moved to Corbin, Kentucky, to manage, always on behalf of Shell, a gas station with a kitchen attached to it.
The intuition for fast food and fried chicken
Serving fast food as part of the gas station proved to be a success. To the menu of the Court and Café, Harland Sanders added his favorite childhood dish: fired chicken.
Becoming a Colonel!
As a recognition of the quality of the meals and his business skills he was bestowed the ”Kentucky Colonel” title the highest title of honor of the State.
Inventing the Original Recipe
Having opened his first restaurant, Harland Sanders invented the ORIGINAL RECIPE combining 11 secret spices for breading and frying chicken in a pressure fryer. The culinary critic Duncan Hines included it in his guide to the best restaurants in America, Adventures in Good Eating.
Founding the KFC Chain
Seeing the potential of the franchise, he sold the restaurant and founded the chain Kentucky Fried Chicken, KFC, recruiting its first franchisee, Pete Harman.
The best seller of fried chicken in the world!
The Colonel could not be separate from KFC, rather he became its official spokesman and #1 seller of chicken in the world!
Fried Chicken to the Rising Sun
The KFC Colonel set out for Japan. A new Japanese tradition of eating Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas was born!
Today
KFC is now present in over 125 countries and territories around the world, with more than 20,000 restaurants.