More bad news for KFC fans: A chicken shortage that has closed hundreds of stores in the UK could last all week.
The fast food chain was forced to shut restaurants across the country after a logistics snafu hit chicken deliveries.
As many as 800 of about 900 KFC locations were closed on Monday. Roughly 600 locations remained closed at lunchtime on Tuesday.
"Each day more deliveries are being made, however, we expect the disruption to some restaurants to continue over the remainder of the week, meaning some will be closed and others operating with a reduced menu or shortened hours," a KFC spokesperson said in a statement emailed to CNN.
In a message posted on its UK Twitter account, KFC said "our teams are working round the cluck" to reopen all restaurants.
KFC, which is owned by Taco Bell and Pizza Hut parent Yum! (YUM), said the chicken shortage had been caused by a "couple of teething problems" with its new delivery partner, DHL (DPW).
DHL said Monday that a number of deliveries had been "incomplete or delayed" because of "operational issues."
KFC switched suppliers from Bidvest Logistics to DHL last week. Bidvest said that from its perspective, the transition had been "seamless."
The Colonel has an update...🐓🛣🚦
More info - https://t.co/mLELSs6TaY pic.twitter.com/WEOz6jExHC — KFC UK & Ireland (@KFC_UKI) February 19, 2018
The UK is KFC's largest market in Europe, and one of its top five globally.
Franchisees operate 95% of KFC's outlets in the country. The company said Monday that it would pay its staff as normal, and it was encouraging franchisees to do the same.
KFC did not say whether it would compensate its franchisee operators for lost business.
KFC fans have used social media to complain and express their amusement this week over a chicken restaurant running out of its signature product.
So KFC is closed due to having no chicken.. I feel like this is the beginning of the end of the world — kayleigh greenwood🤗 (@kayleigh_xxxxxx) February 19, 2018
-- CNN's Ivana Kottasová contributed to this report.
LONDON, KOMPAS.com - Jaringan restoran cepat saji Kentucky Fried Chicken ( KFC ) dikabarkan menutup separuh dari total 900 gerainya di Inggris. Penyebab tutupnya gerai restoran ayam goreng tersebut adalah pasokan ayam yang habis. Mengutip BBC , Selasa (20/2/2018), pada pekan lalu, KFC telah mengganti kontrak pengiriman kepada DHL. Inilah yang disinyalir oleh KFC sebagai biang keladi masalah operasional terkait pasokan ayam. Juru bicara KFC menyebutkan, belum jelas kapan masalah pengiriman ini akan selesai. Adapun para karyawan didorong untuk mengambil hari libur, namun kebijakan ini tidak dipaksakan. "Tim kami terus bekerja keras untuk kembali (beroperasi) sesegera mungkin. Namun, masih terlalu dini untuk menyatakan berapa lama permasalahan kekurangan (pasokan) ayam ini akan selesai," ujar juru bicara KFC.
Baca juga: Susi dan 100 Wanita Paling Berpengaruh di Dunia Versi BBC Hingga awal pekan lalu, ayam untuk kebutuhan KFC dikirim oleh perusahaan distribusi Bidvest milik seorang warga Afrika Selatan. Akan tetapi, setelah terjadi perubahan kontrak, banyak gerai KFC mengalami kekurangan pasokan ayam. KFC pun mengumumkan permasalahan tersebut melalui akun Twitter resminya. Menurut KFC, permasalahan terkait pengiriman ayam ini sangat kompleks. "Kami telah menghadirkan mitra pengiriman baru, namun mereka memiliki masalah. Membawa ayam segar ke 900 restoran di penjuru negeri (Inggris) adalah perkara kompleks!" kata KFC.
KFC pun tidak lupa disertai permintaan maaf kepada konsumen dalam cuitannya itu. Pihak DHL pun memberikan penjelasannya mengenai masalah dalam pengiriman pasokan ayam ke gerai-gerai KFC. Gangguan tersebut, kata pihak DHL, merupakan gangguan operasional yang segera diselesaikan. "Karena permasalahan operasional, banyak pengiriman dalam beberapa hari terakhir tertunda atau tidak selesai. Kami bekerja keras bersama mitra-mitra kami, KFC, dan QSL untuk menyelesaikan masalah ini, menjadikannya prioritas, dan memohon maaf atas ketidaknyamanan ini," tulis DHL. Namun, permasalahan ini sudah terlanjur membuat sejumlah konsumen marah dan kecewa. Mereka pun meluapkan kemarahannya pada media sosial.
Half of KFC restaurants in the UK are closed after delivery problems saw the fast-food chain run out of chicken – with the firm admitting it is ”too early to say” how long it would take to reopen its branches.
On Tuesday, KFC listed only 450 of its nearly 900 stores as being open.
Asked when customers could expect service to return to normal, a spokesperson said: “Our teams are working flat out all hours to get the rest back up and running as soon as possible – but it’s too early to say how long it will take to clear the backlog.”
Two-thirds of KFC restaurants are closed for business (Reuters/Darren Staples)
Signs were placed on KFC outlets around the country saying the restaurants had closed due to a shortage of the chain’s key ingredient.
KFC first apologised for the lack of fried poultry on Saturday, blaming “teething problems” with its new delivery partner, DHL.
The branches which remained open were operating with a limited menu or shortened hours.
A spokesperson said in a statement: “We anticipate the number of closures will reduce today and over the coming days as our teams work flat out all hours to clear the backlog.
“Each day more deliveries are being made, however, we expect the disruption to some restaurants to continue over the remainder of the week, meaning some will be closed and others operating with a reduced menu or shortened hours.”
The company has set up a web page where customers can check if their local branch is open.
“We’ve brought a new delivery partner onboard, but they’ve had a couple of teething problems – getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country is pretty complex,” KFC said.
“We won’t compromise on quality, so no deliveries has meant some of our restaurants are closed, and others are operating a limited menu, or shortened hours.
“We know that this might have inconvenienced some of you over the last few days, and disappointed you when you wanted your fried chicken fix – we’re really sorry about that.”
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DHL, which recently took over the KFC contract from Bidvest Logistics, said “due to operational issues a number of deliveries in recent days have been incomplete or delayed.”
When DHL announced in October it had won the KFC contract alongside logistics firm QSL, it promised to “re-write the rule book and set a new benchmark for delivering fresh products to KFC in a sustainable way”.
Chicken stacked up in the DHL depot in Rugby
A small mountain of chicken has been spotted going to waste in a DHL depot as KFC becomes embroiled in a nationwide delivery blunder.
Around 700 of the company’s 870 stores in the UK have shut after a huge failure at delivery firm DHL left restaurants without any chicken.
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It has been claimed the delivery chaos is costing the firm £1 million a day while it is feared staff on zero hour contacts will miss out on pay.
The picture taken at the depot in Rugby – described as ‘total mayhem’ – shows tray after tray of chicken piled high in delivery baskets, waiting to be loaded onto lorries.
The company was forced to start closing stores on Saturday following a delivery problem believed to have started on Wednesday following an accident on the M6.
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One insider told The Sun: ‘Some DHL lorries were sat in traffic for hours and it kick-started a huge backlog of deliveries.
‘They couldn’t get enough drivers together to clear the backlog then in the chaos trucks were delivering wrong stock or out-of-date stock which had to be sent back.
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‘It’s a logistical nightmare for DHL. They just didn’t have the set-up to deal with it.’
KFC’s problem with DHL is so widespread that it has still not said when it might be resolved.
Many KFC staff are are on zero-hours contracts and some said they had been left with no income while the stores stayed closed.
A closed sign hangs on the door of a KFC restaurant after problems with a new distribution system in Coalville, Leicestershire (Picture: Reuters/Darren Staples)
One worker told The Sun he had hadn’t any work since the delivery issue first emerged while other staff said they had been told to take holiday.
As the company struggles to deal with the blunder, a customer filmed workers ‘smuggling raw chicken through the backdoor’.
Danny Mercer believes some workers are taking the small matter of a nationwide chicken shortage into their own hands.
Metro.co.uk has contacted KFC for comment.
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