What Happens To KFC's Leftover Chicken?
Famous for its iconic chicken buckets flavored with the famous (and delicious) 11 spices and instantly recognizable "Colonel Sanders" mascot, KFC has become one of the biggest players in the fast food industry. Behind McDonald's, it's the second-largest restaurant chain globally. But when you're serving millions of customers daily, waste becomes a major issue. Fortunately, KFC has taken meaningful steps to reduce the amount of food that ends up in landfills while simultaneously giving back to those in need.
As with any restaurant, leftovers are inevitable, but it's how waste is managed that makes all the difference. KFC primarily manages its waste through the Harvest Food Donation Programme. Launched in 1992 by Yum! Brands (the parent company of KFC), the Harvest Programme is a global food donation initiative designed to redirect surplus food to local hunger relief organizations. KFC joined the programme in 1999, and since then has donated over 92 million meals to 4,300 non-profits worldwide (via the KFC Foundation). In recent years, this program has also been implemented in many of KFC's international locations, and KFC has revealed that, as of 2020, the program was in operation at more than 4,000 restaurants worldwide.
Donating such a huge volume of food is no small feat, but KFC has managed to streamline the process. At the end of the day, unsold chicken is collected and bagged. To prevent spoilage, it's immediately frozen, and collection plans are made between the specific branch and local charities. Such organizations include soup kitchens, community kitchens, and local food banks.
How else does KFC manage its waste?
When chicken is cooked, it can be stored in the refrigerator and used within four days. However, the entire concept of fast food is quick meals made fresh, so understandably, customers wouldn't appreciate being served day-old chicken even if it's in perfectly good condition. That's what makes KFC's donation program so important to reduce its waste. However, while a large majority of KFC's chicken is donated, some of the chicken does undergo internal repurposing.
A self-identified former employee took to Reddit to share what they did with leftover chicken: "We would take home a lot of the dark meat[;] the rest gets thrown away. The white meat was separated from the bone and used in pot pies." Many other employees also backed up this statement, and mentioned that other faves like the barbecue sandwiches also contain leftover chicken. While the practice of repurposing chicken might come as a shock to some customers, it's actually a common industry practice. Even some of our favorite Costco deli items are made using leftover rotisserie chickens.
According to KFC, by 2035, it aims to become a zero-waste business. A big part of this does involve "recycling" certain food products. Alongside using leftover chicken for pot pies or sandwiches, the majority of food waste that cannot be reused or donated is converted into biodiesel — a renewable and much more sustainable alternative to traditional petroleum diesel. This is also how McDonald's manages its waste while Chipotle predominantly donates to food charities or composts it. KFC is also tapping into the rise of artificial intelligence to prevent waste altogether, using AI-driven software to predict how much chicken is likely needed based on existing sales data.