The legendary life of Harald Sanders, the founder of "KFC"
KFC can be said to be a household name in China. The man in a white suit, black tie, and The old man with a kind smile always welcomes visitors from all over the world. He is known as the "Fried Chicken King" of the United States.
Sanders can be said to be a late bloomer. The secret recipe of his own fried chicken served the guests from far and wide in his small restaurant, so he became famous all over the world. It was not until the age of 65 that he founded the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, which gained him great fame and success. Wealth.
Haraled Sanders was born in Halliwell, South India, in 1890. When Sanders was 5 years old, his father died suddenly of illness and left no property to support him. With three children, his mother had to work in a nearby factory. The young Sanders began to take care of his younger siblings at home, and learned to cook for himself when he was 7 years old. Let his mother taste it, and he was praised by his mother and fellow workers.
When he was 12 years old, his mother remarried, and his stepfather was very strict with him and often beat him when his mother went out to work. He had to run away from home to make a living. He kept changing jobs, but he was still confident that he would be successful in the future.
When he was 16 years old, he lied about his age and joined the expedition to Cuba. During the voyage, he became severely seasick and was killed. He was sent home early, and soon after he was discharged, he returned to his hometown. In order to make a living, he worked as a tram dispatcher, drove a ferry, and worked as a railway worker in the South. Sanders met a young and beautiful girl named Josephine King in Alabama, and they got married a few months later. They had a lovely daughter soon after their marriage, and their son was born in 1911 and 1919. She gave birth to a daughter in 2001. But it was not easy to be Sanders' wife. He had a bad temper, and his work on the railway prevented him from taking care of the family for a long time. The relationship between the couple became worse and worse. /p>
In 1921, Sanders joined Prudential Life Insurance Company to work in sales and soon became a popular figure in the company. However, the good times did not last long. He later resigned due to a falling out with his boss over the bonus issue. Inspired by the lawyer, he once started practicing law, but his career did not last long. He actually got into a fight with a client when he was trying a case in court.
When he was in his 30s, Sanders was unemployed. , but he never lost heart. At the age of 34, he finally found an opportunity to work as a tire salesman for Michelin, giving full play to his imagination and creativity, and his career was very successful. , misfortune befell him again. Once, while driving across the bridge, the supporting steel rope broke, and he and his car fell off the bridge. Sanders was injured and could no longer work for that company. /p>
His experience as a tire salesman made him feel that cars would be a necessity in the future of the United States, and the gas industry would have a bright future. In 1930, Sanders' family moved to the town of Keburn, Kentucky. A Shell gas station opened in a small town that was not prosperous at that time. At that time, the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression, an economic crisis. Business was very poor in the first week, and everyone could only survive on oats. Sanders erected a large billboard next to the highway, hoping that business would pick up soon. This caused friction between him and surrounding competitors. Sanders shot and wounded one of the opponents and was almost prosecuted for it.
Once, a truck driver who came here to refuel complained to him that it was difficult to find a suitable place to eat around. Sanders suddenly felt that another development opportunity had come. He transformed a small storage room into a small restaurant that can accommodate 6 people, and began to teach his wife to cook. He recommends Josephine's Kentucky ham and fried chicken to customers who come to refuel. Everyone tasted it and thought it tasted good. After the accolades spread, Sanders had to expand his restaurant.
By 1934, the small restaurant was too busy for the Sanders alone. They hired Ms. Claudia, who was divorced. Claudia is smart, capable, optimistic and cheerful, and doesn't mind Sanders' bad temper at all.
Soon, the business became more and more prosperous, and Sanders decided to open a separate coffee shop next to the gas station. At that time, it took 30 minutes to fry a pot of chicken drumsticks, so there was a long queue of people coming here to taste it.
Sanders believed that the taste of fried chicken was very important, so he began to delve into seasonings and asked his eldest daughter to be the chief taster. He eventually created a secret recipe of 11 kinds of seasonings, which has never been changed to this day.
By the time Sanders was in his 40s, he had gained widespread acclaim for his cooking. In 1935, the governor of Kentucky awarded Sanders the honorary title of "Kentucky Colonel." The name "Kentucky" comes from this.
In the late 1940s, highway construction began on a large scale in the United States. With the completion of highways, Americans began traveling to unprecedented distances. At the same time, the hotel industry developed, and Sanders discovered this trend and built a hotel next to the coffee shop. At that time, motels had a bad reputation and poor hygiene. Many decent people chose to stay in hotels in urban areas when they went out. In order to change this prejudice, Sanders made his hotel quite comfortable and clean. He also set aside a house in the center of the restaurant as a model room for people to visit in advance to decide whether to stay here. This worked as a great promotion and the hotel was often full.
In the late 1940s, Sanders' personal life underwent major changes. In 1947, he divorced Josephine, and his children were deeply affected. They sympathized with their mother who had worked hard for so many years. On November 17, 1949, Sanders and Claudia got married. From then on, Sanders started a new life. He became interested in public activities. In 1951, he ran for Senate but lost. This makes Sanders feel that he should focus on the causes he is good at.
Just as Sanders's restaurant business was booming, massive highway construction threatened his career development. In 1955, a road to be built happened to pass through his restaurant, and Sanders had to sell the business he had worked for for 25 years for $75,000.
Sanders was 65 years old at this time. People think it's time for him to retire. But instead of living on Social Security, as many do, Sanders is still working at his old job. With the techniques and secret recipes he had mastered, he contacted small restaurants all over the country, taught the small owners the fried chicken skills and had strict quality requirements for them. By 1963, he controlled more than 600 fried chicken restaurants.
By the age of 75, Sanders felt powerless and felt that his personal strength alone could no longer support such a huge restaurant chain. Eventually he decided to sell KFC for $2 million. Still, KFC couldn't live without Sanders, and the new owners continued to use Sanders for television commercials to promote the increasingly popular fast food.
The success of KFC led its new owner to decide to issue shares to the market and proposed giving Sanders 10,000 shares as part of the purchase price; but Sanders never believed in stocks and he refused. People comment: This is why Sanders didn’t become a billionaire. Later, the company's stock rose sharply, and even his secretary made millions. By 1968, KFC had more than 20,000 employees, and 21 people became millionaires.
Seven years after KFC was sold, it changed hands again. In 1971, Heberline acquired the KFC chain for US$280 million. Since then, although Sanders's image has appeared on KFC's packaging and advertisements, he has no other relationship with KFC.
Sanders was deeply affected by the rapid development of the fast food industry. At the age of 83, he and his wife Claudia founded another French fast food restaurant. But Heberline banned Sanders from using his own image as a sign, arguing that it conflicted with their trademark. This surprised and saddened Sanders. Sanders said he has been very generous in helping others, but now he has been deprived of the right to use his name and likeness. In January 1974, Sanders sued Heberline, claiming that it had interfered with his right to operate independently, demanding $122 million in damages. For Sanders, who has no trace of greed, the lawsuit is not about money, but about seeking justice. Heberline later sought an out-of-court settlement.
In June 1980, Sanders was diagnosed with cancer, but this did not destroy his spirit. He said: "People often complain about bad weather, but it is not actually bad weather. It’s just different good weather.” In December 1980, Sanders died at the age of 90. All KFC branches paid tribute to the old man, and even its competitor McDonald’s lowered the flag at half-mast.
Sanders was buried in Keyworth Cemetery in Kentucky. The bust erected there was also built by him during his lifetime. When he was alive, he often came to the statue to touch and look at it. Today, his grave has become a famous attraction. Today, there are more than 10,000 KFC branches around the world. Sanders's smiling face has not become history, he is still welcoming batches of diners