KFC appoints new french fries supplier
JAKARTA (JP): PT Fast Food Indonesia, the franchisee of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Indonesia, has appointed PT Sekar Bumi, a private frozen food company, as the sole supplier of french fries.
"PT Sekar Bumi will supply 2,000 tons of frozen french fries a year to meet the needs of 107 Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlets all over the country," the director of PT Fast Food Indonesia (FFI), J.D. Juwono, told a press conference here Tuesday after the signing ceremony of the agreement.
The Rp 5 billion (US$2,3 million) contract stipulates that PT Sekar Bumi will import french fries in bulk from J.R. Simplot Company of Idaho, United States.
However, Juwono said that local potatoes would not be rejected as long as they have the certain quality and consistent taste required by KFC's standard.
He urged the Sekar Bumi management to cultivate their research and development in seeking ways to cultivate good quality local potatoes with an identical taste and shape to imported ones.
Juwono added that consistency in supply and delivery are also important.
Harry Lukminto, Sekar Bumi's president, said that his company will consider Juwono's request, saying that it will need to carry out a thorough study for cultivating such potatoes.
Juwono said that before Sekar Bumi was chosen to supply french fries, FFI obtained potatoes from more than one supplier but as the punctuality of deliveries is imperative the company decided to appoint only one supplier.
Harry Lukminto said that the supply agreement between the two companies will also benefit FFI. "They will no longer face transportation problems," he said.
Juwono also told The Jakarta Post that another reason why the company appointed a sole supplier is because Sekar Bumi has been able to supply all its demands for frozen potatoes.
He, however, said that demands for french fries in KFC restaurants is much lower than rice because 95 percent of the customers still ask for the local staple food.
According to Juwono, 60 percent of the imported french fries will be distributed to 60 KFC's outlets in Jakarta while the remainder will go to outlets in other provinces. (03)