Business | General
KFC takes no chances with Colonel's recipe
So important is the 68-year-old concoction that only two executives at any time have access to it.
- AP
- Published: 23:25 September 9, 2008
Louisville, Kentucky: Pssst. The secret's out at KFC. Well, sort of.
Colonel Harland Sanders' handwritten recipe of 11 herbs and spices was to be removed yesterday from safekeeping at KFC's corporate offices for the first time in decades. The temporary relocation is allowing KFC to revamp security around a yellowing sheet of paper that contains one of the United States' most famous corporate secrets.
The brand's top executive admitted his nerves were aflutter despite the tight security he lined up for the operation.
"I don't want to be the president who loses the recipe," KFC President Roger Eaton said. "Imagine how terrifying that would be."
So important is the 68-year-old concoction that coats the chain's Original Recipe chicken that only two company executives at any time have access to it. The company refuses to release their name or title, and it uses multiple suppliers who produce and blend the ingredients but know only a part of the entire contents.
Louisville-based KFC, part of the fast-food company Yum Brands, hired off-duty police officers and private security guards to whisk the document away to an undisclosed location in an armoured car. The recipe will be slid into a briefcase and handcuffed to security expert Bo Dietl for the ride.
For more than 20 years, the recipe has been tucked away in a filing cabinet equipped with two combination locks in company headquarters. To reach the cabinet, the keepers of the recipe would first open up a vault and unlock three locks on a door that stood in front of the cabinet. Vials of the herbs and spices are also stored in the secret filing cabinet.
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