640 of the 900 UK KFC locations were closed on Monday thanks to “operational issues” involving their new delivery partner, DHL, which left the chain up a gravy river without a nugget.
As of yesterday, hundreds of locations remained closed in Day 3 of the Great Chicken Shortage.
Britain is the 5th-largest market for KFC, making up 6% of its global sales, but, as KFC put it in their recent statement, “getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country is pretty complex!”
“WELL, FIGURE IT OUT” — hangry British people
Concerned, chicken-deprived citizens have been calling their local police to do something, anything…
And the police are asking them to stop. “It is not a police matter if your favourite eatery is not serving the menu that you desire,” tweeted a London police department in response to the influx of calls.
You had ONE job, DHL
KFC switched from their old distributor, Bidvest, to German partner DHL last week, but botched logistics have held up the birds for days.
To make matters worse, the media coverage alerted a local UK food safety council to the existence of an unregistered storage depot at the core of the chicken crisis. That means some of the poultry will have to be destroyed, and potentially more delays.
Meanwhile, Bidvest is feeling pretty smug right now. “We tried to warn KFC,” said Mick Rix, a union officer representing Bidvest workers. “Now the chickens are coming home to roost.”