Colonel's coming

KFC set to relaunch in Israel

Previous attempt by fast food chain to gain foothold in Jewish state stumbled after fried chicken coating was made kosher

By JTA 20 February 2019, 9:02 am Edit

File: A Kentucky Fried Chicken logo. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

The American fast food chain KFC is recruiting staff ahead of a planned reopening in Israel, the business daily Globes reported.

The company announced six months ago that it would relaunch in Israel for the fourth time.

Kentucky Fried Chicken opened and closed in Israel in the 1980s and the ’90s, and then remained open between 2003 and 2012.

In KFC’s last incarnation in Israel, franchise owner Udi Shamai’s eight locations went kosher after the company allowed him to switch the milk powder in the crispy coating to soy and to use kosher-killed chickens instead of those provided by the company.

“The moment we switched to kosher, sales began to plunge and it was no longer economically viable. The product was less good, whereas things had gone fine with un-kosher chickens,” Shamai told Globes.

KFC has 45,000 outlets in over 135 countries. It has six outlets in three West Bank Palestinian cities.