KFC China Brings More Local Products to Its Menus - Boosting Rural Revitalization

Yum China has recently launched the Trio Black cereal drink - a hot breakfast drink - at more than 270 KFC stores in Sichuan province and Chongqing. Made of natural and nutritious grains, KFC’s new hot drink is not only an ideal breakfast choice for health-conscious consumers, but an innovative initiative to promote rural revitalization in Sichuan province.

The new drink recipe is made of 70% black buckwheat, and 30% black wheat and black sesame. All ingredients contain various nutrients and proteins, providing a good source of energy. One of the main ingredients, black buckwheat, is cultivated in Liangshan, one of the most undeveloped regions in China.

To better promote rural revitalization in Sichuan province, KFC began considering including Liangshan black buckwheat in its supply chain in 2018. After rounds of tests and upgrades, and with the support of local partners, Yum China’s R&D team successfully developed the Trio Black cereal drink, which made its first appearance on KFC’s local menu in Sichuan province and Chongqing. KFC plans to roll out the new drink to more stores across the country.

KFC’s Trio Black cereal drink generates more income for local farmers and increases brand recognition of Liangshan’s black buckwheat. “In the past, buckwheat was sold for as low as 50 cents per kilo, so no one wanted to grow it. As black buckwheat has become more and more popular in the past few years, the purchase price has increased to about 8 RMB per kilo. Now, farmers are more willing to grow it, and our life is getting better and better,” said Fu Daming, a buckwheat farmer from Liangshan.

Adding black buckwheat to KFC’s menu also improves Liangshan’s local economy. Chen Jianxiong, general manager of Huantai Bio Tech, a local partner of KFC, said, “We have to buy more advanced equipment to improve output quality in order to meet KFC’s supply chain’s high standard on quality. However, it is worth the trade-off as more consumers know us. Moreover, cooperating with a global brand has also brought us more business opportunities.”

The new drink represents another of Yum China’s many successful efforts to bring Sichuan flavors to the Chinese consumers’ table. In 2008, KFC launched Tender Beef Pentagon with Sichuan Dengying spicy jam; classic Sichuan night snacks were introduced to consumers around China in 2019. In 2020, a spicy Stir-fried Crawfish Burger Roll was launched nationwide.

In recent years, KFC is increasingly tapping into regional Chinese cuisines, adding traditional local dishes to its menu to meet the diversified needs of Chinese consumers and boost local economies.

By partnering with local brands to develop regional menu items and leveraging strong supply chain capabilities to source high-quality local ingredients, KFC has successfully introduced dozens of local flavors from more than 10 provinces to consumers across China. In addition, selected regional menu items have been added to KFC’s retail product portfolio, available both in stores and online.

Tang Jiqiang, a professor at Southwestern Finance University, commented that including local agricultural products in a major global company’s supply chain will increase their added value and could introduce more products from undeveloped areas like Liangshan to overseas and domestic markets, further boosting rural development in China.