A central plank in food corporations' social responsibility platforms these days is the development and marketing of 'healthy' food choices to consumers. In these days of heightened consumer nutritional awareness you would think this part of CSR would be the simple bit. Think again.
In an intriguing internal industry tussle Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), a business unit of Yum! Brands, has got itself embroiled in a storm in a chicken bucket. It is being sued by some of its own franchisees - the KFC National Council and Advertising Cooperative, Inc. - about KFC allegedly spending too much of its efforts promoting its new 'grilled' chicken over the Original Recipe 'fried' chicken.
KFC's 'grilled' chicken options - test launched in March 2008 and rolled out in 2009- promise fewer calories, fewer grams of fat, and less sodium over the Original Recipe fried chicken and is reported to have achieved sales of $1 billion in its first year (in 2008 KFC had total sales of $11.279 billion according to Yum! accounts).
Business Week reported that the lawsuit centers around ad bias with the plaintiff - the KFC National Council and Advertising Cooperative, Inc (which is a separate entity from Yum! Brands, and represents KFC franchise owners in the company's marketing decisions) - claiming the President of KFC is favoring grilled chicken over its staple fried chicken. The lawsuit was filed in Delaware Chancery Court.
The Washington Post reported a spokesperson from KFC parent Yum! Brands as saying the lawsuit is "baseless". The Post article also quoted a senior vice president from the Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchisees as saying while they needed both grilled and fried chicken, fried chicken accounted for 80 percent of their business.
The KFC battle over 'fried' versus 'grilled' may seem a sidebar, but it shines a light on the bigger picture of the challenge of moving healthy eating innovations from niche to mainstream and from often value-added product niches within companies. Transforming traditional food supply to a more health-orientated one is the heart and soul of food industry social responsibility in this area. But it also questions the extent of food business' role and how food business can address public health issues as they relate to diet, health and well being.
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