LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KFC has been named the Most Trusted Quick-Service Restaurant Brand in India, ahead of all other Indian and global quick-service restaurant brands, by The Brand Trust Report 2015 study. KFC also ranked as the number one brand in India on the Retail Category list. KFC is part of Yum! Restaurants India, a division of Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM).
“We are honored to have KFC recognized as the Most Trusted Quick-Service Restaurant Brand in India,” said Niren Chaudhary, President, Yum! Restaurants India. “The recognition reflects our brand building strategy focused on providing exceptional customer service, localized menu offerings, a skilled yet diverse workforce and deep penetration across Tier I and Tier II cities. We have strong brands, strong business models and we are extremely well positioned to deliver on our goal of having 2,000 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants in India by 2020.”
The Brand Trust Report is one of the most in-depth studies conducted about ‘Brand Trust’ worldwide. The study is a result of 13,000 hours of research with sociologists, communication experts and behavioral scientists. Issued annually by TRA, a Comniscient Group company, the recent study assessed 19,000 brands from which the top 1,000 were selected for the report.
“Congratulations to our outstanding KFC leadership team and restaurant team members in India whose hard work and passion are reflected by the recognition,” said Greg Creed, Chief Executive Officer, Yum! Brands. “India is an important emerging country for Yum! as it’s projected to become the largest consumer market in the world by 2030. Our India Division has a long runway of exciting opportunities and endless possibilities to grow over the long-term.”
India is a key emerging market for Yum! Brands. It has a rapidly growing middle class and a huge, youthful population of more than 1.2 billion people with 50-percent under the age of 30. It is predicted that in the next 15 years, India will add 200 million people to the global workforce.
KFC is the fastest growing quick-service restaurant brand in India, quadrupling in size over the last five years to 395 restaurants. KFC is a young, vibrant, aspirational brand in India with contemporary restaurant designs, innovative marketing programs and a unique, signature menu including a range of chicken sandwiches, wings, rice dishes and vegetarian items. Pizza Hut has been named the Most Trusted Food Service Brand by The Economic Times (India) for the last 10 consecutive years. Through its brand positioning of ‘Pizzas and Much More’, it has 185 affordable casual dining restaurants and 246 Home Delivery locations. Taco Bell entered India in 2010 and has seven restaurants.
Yum! Brands is the worldwide leader in emerging markets like India with more than 15,000 restaurants and a nearly two-to-one advantage over the nearest competition. The Company opened over 2,030 new restaurants outside the U.S. in 2014 with 80 percent of the development occurring in emerging markets. With only two restaurants per million people in the top 10 emerging markets, compared to 57 restaurants per million in the U.S., Yum! believes it is on the ground floor of global growth.
Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, has over 41,000 restaurants in more than 125 countries and territories. Yum! is ranked #216 on the Fortune 500 List with revenues of over $13 billion. In 2014 Yum! was named among the top 100 Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility Magazine and one of the Aon Hewitt Top Companies for Leaders in North America. The Company's restaurant brands - KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell - are the global leaders of the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food categories. Outside the United States, the Yum! Brands system opens over five new restaurants per day on average, making it a leader in international retail development.
