KFC's Indian expansion faces obstacles<\/p>\n
By Narayanan Madhavan<\/p>\n
BANGALORE, India (Reuter): Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has
\ndiscovered that serving its standard fare in some 9,400 outlets
\nworldwide is fraught with challenge and opportunity when it comes
\nto India.<\/p>\n
In a land of increasingly affluent consumers and die-hard
\nnationalists who cannot stomach its presence, a busload of
\npolicemen guard the PepsiCo-owned food chain's first outlet in
\nthe southern Indian city of Bangalore, often called the nation's
\nSilicon Valley because of its computer industry.<\/p>\n
KFC has had to down it shutters on three days since it set up
\nshop in India this year.<\/p>\n
In September, KFC's Bangalore outlet closed for a few hours
\nafter municipal officials said its food contained monosodium
\nglutamate (MSG) beyond permissible limits. KFC took the matter to
\ncourt and won a stay of closure. It says the amount of MSG used
\nis well within safe limits.<\/p>\n
It shut down for a day on Nov. 1 after peasant leader M.D.
\nNanjundaswamy brought 25,000 supporters to protest against the
\nrestaurant, which he says will divert food grains from human
\nconsumption. \"It directly affects Indian agriculture,\" he told
\nReuters.<\/p>\n
On Sunday (Nov. 12), KFC was forced to shut its Delhi
\nrestaurant -- its second Indian outlet-- after a hurried weekend
\naction by the city's Hindu nationalist government on the ground
\nthat its sanitation was inadequate. \"They found two flies,\" a KFC
\nspokesman said dryly.<\/p>\n
KFC was approaching Delhi's high court on Monday to seek a
\nstay order against what it perceives as an unjust action.<\/p>\n
Inside the restaurant on Bangalore's Brigade Road, customers
\ndon't seem to care about the criticism, although they admit the
\ncrowd has thinned somewhat after the Nanjundaswamy organization's
\nthreat to ransack the store and environmental campaigns.<\/p>\n
\"There are Chinese restaurants selling the same stuff
\n(monosodium glutamate) by the kilos. Why not them? Why pick
\nsolely on KFC?,\" said Shashi Uthappa, a housewife in Bangalore.
\n\"If we want to die, it's our choice.\"<\/p>\n
\"We eat here everyday. Nothing happens to us,\" said student
\nMenaka Shewakramani. \"In the U.S., they are so health conscious.
\nIf they can have KFC there, why not here?.\"<\/p>\n
Last week, Delhi's government, which is controlled by the
\nHindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), asked municipal
\nofficials to take action against KFC's outlet in the capital,
\nsaying the store was using sodium aluminum phosphate, a harmful
\ningredient not permitted under local laws.<\/p>\n
\"Sodium aluminum phosphate is a common ingredient in baking
\npowder,\" said Sandeep Kohli, managing director of KFC in India.<\/p>\n
The BJP and its ideological inspiration, the Swadeshi Jagaran
\nManch (National Awakening Forum) are strident in their criticism
\nof KFC, and the Delhi government does not want KFC to be granted
\nany more licenses.<\/p>\n
Concerns about junk food and a dislike of foreign products
\nmake for a heady mix as the BJP prepares for general elections,
\ndue by mid-1996. The party is gunning for aspects of Prime
\nMinister P.V. Narasimha Rao's four-year-old free market
\nprogram, which brought in consumer giants KFC, Pepsi and Coke.<\/p>\n
Alongside this a minor, but equally intriguing, debate rages.
\nIs KFC's fare a winner with Indian palates, long used to spicy
\nchicken from the tandoor oven?<\/p>\n
The Times of India recently quoted some celebrities saying
\nthey prefer tandoori chicken. But KFC's customers like both.<\/p>\n
\"Variety is the spice of life,\" declared student Nadeem,
\nhappily countering those who say KFC's chicken lacks spice.<\/p>\n
\"If you can bring in potato chips and cornflakes, why not
\nthis?,\" added Ila Gurjar, a customer at Bangalore.<\/p>\n
Politicians or no politicians, spice or not, KFC is catching
\nits customers young. Many older customers said they preferred
\nspicy tandoori chicken, but that their children loved KFC's fare.<\/p>\n
\"They like it more,\" Rama Reddy said, pointing to her two
\nchildren. \"I don't think it's bad for them. Otherwise I wouldn't
\nbring them here.\"<\/p>",
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