The colonel's back in Delhi

FOOD

KFC, America's leading fried chicken brand, has reopened in Delhi after a long gap.

The last time round, KFC, which originally stood for Kentucky Fried Chicken, was less than succcessful in the tandoori chicken capital.

Now, "the world's largest chicken restaurant chain", as it calls itself, is back in Delhi with new products and positioning and, hopefully, some lessons from its failure.

After all, "We've had almost 10 years of consumer insight" says Sandeep Kohli, managing director, India, Yum! Restaurants (which owns Pizza Hut too), ready to open an outlet at the City Square Mall in Rajouri Garden followed by at least four in six months in Delhi.

Now, KFC did not get entirely wiped off the northern Indian map. It did okay in Chandigarh, also part of the tandoori circuit.

Overall, KFC runs 11 outlets, including some in Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad. The brand hopes to have 25 restaurants in India by the end of this year.

So how's the second coming to Delhi different?

A look at the menu says a lot. Prices, for example, are lower. More significantly, apart from its original Colonel Sander's "secret recipe", there's a lot of vegetarian fare. And a lot means a lot. Paneer tikka rolls, a chana crunch snacker, and even a veg thali.

"About 35 to 40 per cent of people in Delhi are vegetarians and there are other challenges such as people being vegetarians on certain days of the week," says Arvind Mediratta, chief marketing officer for Yum! Restaurants.

The overall idea is to avoid the pitfall of a "veg veto" when groups go out to eat. Quite evidently, KFC in India has moved decisively away from the "finger lickin' good" chicken position that it holds globally with such success.