On December 15th, KFC Grand Canal Restaurant opened at Wulinmen Pier in Hangzhou. At this point, the scale of KFC's stores in China has officially exceeded 10000.
On the opening day, Chen Xinhua, President of the China Hotel Association, Chen Hongtao, Secretary General of the China Rural Development Foundation, Wu Bulikasimu Maituo Song, Deputy Director of the Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province, Dr. Fred Hu, Chairman of Yum! Brands China, Joey Wat, CEO of Yum! Brands China, and Mr. Wang Tao, General Manager of KFC China, jointly attended the opening ceremony of KFC Wanda Plaza.
As Wanda set sail, the Ministry of Commerce sent a congratulatory letter to Yum! Brands China. The Ministry of Commerce stated that Yum! Brands China actively engages in investment and operation in China, achieving great success and substantial returns, making positive contributions to China's economic and social development, and encouraging the company to continue to actively expand investment in China, deeply cultivate the Chinese market, and deepen mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.
In 1987, KFC opened China's first Western style fast food chain restaurant in Qianmen, Beijing. With the opening of KFC's Grand Canal restaurant, KFC has achieved its first "ten thousand stores" goal in China and will step into the next sustained and healthy growth stage.
Ms. Joey Wat, CEO of Yum! Brands China, said, "Starting with ten thousand, we are about to enter the next stage of rapid growth. We hope that by 2026, KFC's food and services can reach over 700 million consumers in China, achieving a population growth of over 50%."
KFC stated that behind KFC China's expansion of its store scale and anchoring of larger goals, it is the brand's firm confidence in long-term expansion into the Chinese market. Next, KFC will focus on three major strategies: expanding its store network, developing new product categories, and optimizing prices to fully promote the achievement of its goals.
On the occasion of the celebration of ten thousand stores, KFC's new brand proposition of "always good taste" was simultaneously released, announcing that the brand's high-quality development has entered the next stage.