肯德基计划回归创始人烹饪口味

肯德基（KFC）希望重现昔日荣光。

在“2016年快餐界可能发生的最大事件”媒体活动上，肯德基美国区总裁杰森•马克宣布，这家餐饮连锁店正在经历一个他们称之为“回归上校”（Re-Colonelization）的过程。不要把它与“再度移民”（recolonization）搞混了，这个术语指的是肯德基要努力改善烹饪方式，确保消费者能享用到“上校品质”的炸鸡。

马克在接受《财富》杂志采访时表示：“如果你认为肯德基的迷人美味要归功于食谱和烹饪过程，那么，我们这次重点改善了烹饪过程。”他还补充道，肯德基的母公司百胜餐饮（Yum!）2015年宣布将向这个炸鸡品牌直接投资1.85亿美元，并提供“2.5亿美元的经费”。这笔钱将用于帮助肯德基开展“回归上校”行动，其中包括升级肯德基在美国的所有厨房，改造3000家门店。在2016年，肯德基计划先改造其中的1000家餐厅。

马克把肯德基比作“曾经辉煌”的足球队——人们恋旧地谈起它，但近些年来他们的表现已经不再出色。为了重现“昔日荣光”，这家连锁餐饮公司也在改进一些基本的烹饪技术，例如油脂管理、烹饪循环、存放时间等，“回到创始人山德士上校最初的烹饪方式。”

马克说：“我们希望能为这家公司提供的食物百分百负责，百分百自豪。”为表明他们对顾客负责，肯德基提供了担保——如果顾客不喜欢拿到的炸鸡，他们可以提供调换。

马克表示，这只是他们宏伟战略的一部分，顾客可以期待肯德基的后续消息。他补充道，公司首先抓住了基本要点，从而获得了“开展更多创新”的能力，“今年会有一些令人激动的创新”。（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正

KFC wants to return to its glory days.

At a press event that was built up as “what may be 2016’s biggest story in fast food,” KFC U.S. president Jason Marker announced that the chain is undergoing a process they’ve chosen to call “Re-Colonelization.” Not to be confused with “recolonization,” the term refers to KFC’s efforts to refine its cooking process and ensure customers receive “Colonel-quality” fried chicken.

“If you think of the craveable taste of KFC as the recipe and the process, it’s been the process piece that we’re focused on,” Marker told Fortune. He added that Yum!Brands YUM -0.45% , KFC’s parent company, announced last year that it would be investing $185 million directly into the fried chicken brand as well as “a quarter of a billion dollars in finance.” That money is helping fund KFC’s “Re-Colonelization” efforts which include upgrading all KFC U.S. kitchens and remodeling 3,000 assets. KFC plans to remodel 1,000 restaurants in 2016.

Marker likened KFC to a “once great” football team—people talk about it nostalgically, but in recent years they haven’t been doing their best. To return to its “former glory,” the chain is also changing some of its fundamental cooking practices such as oil management, cook cycles, and hold times, to “go back to the process Colonel Sanders originally had in place.”

“What we want is a business where we’re 100% accountable for the food we serve, and 100% proud of the food we serve,” Marker said. The chain is holding itself accountable by implementing a guarantee—if a customer doesn’t love his chicken, he can request a replacement.

Marker said that this is just one part of a broader strategy, and that customers should expect future announcements from KFC. First getting the basics right gives the chain the ability to “generate a lot more innovation,” and “there’s some exciting innovation coming this year,” he added.