POWER CRISIS
KFC forced to temporarily shut some SA outlets due to Eskom’s rolling blackouts
Eskom’s record-breaking bouts of load shedding mean less chicken will get fried this festive season. KFC has said it has to temporarily close some of its South African restaurants because of power outages. KFC is a unit of US-listed fast food giant Yum! so this state of affairs sends a bad signal to foreign investors.
KFC made the terse announcement on its official Twitter account this week.
“We are sorry, but due to the ongoing load shedding, some of our restaurants will be temporarily closed, while others may have limited availability on some of your favourite menu items.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and will be back soon,” it said.
No further details were provided, including which or how many restaurants are affected. Presumably it is franchises that cannot afford back-up power systems or those located in strip malls that are also at the mercy of Eskom’s inability to keep the lights on all the time.
News24 reported that about 70 stores have been closed, citing a spokesperson.
The closures, of course, mean that many employees will be temporarily out of work in an economy with an unemployment rate of well over 40%, if discouraged jobseekers are included.
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KFC has 925 stores in South Africa, according to the KFC store location website and most of these are franchises, so local businesspeople are losing revenue. Cholesterol levels may get lowered, but so ultimately will gross domestic product, the economy’s beating heart.
KFC is a unit of Yum!, a US-listed fast food giant with a market capitalisation of $36.6-billion and a share price that is near record highs. When such companies do business in overseas markets, the boardroom pays attention. And so KFC’s current woes in South Africa send a bad signal to foreign investors.
It will be of more than passing interest to see if other fast food outlets in South Africa will be forced to adopt similar measures in the face of mounting power outages. Does the fate of the Double Crunch in some locations also await Big Macs and King Steer burgers in others?
This has been a record year for load shedding and rolling power blackouts, and KFC may just be the canary in a fast food coal mine.
KFC has its secret “eleven herbs and spices”, but there seems to be no recipe at the moment to fix Eskom and the damage it is inflicting on South Africa’s economy. DM/BM
They are not alone, every business has the same challenge. Economic growth , what a joke.
What will happen to the poor Metro cops, I hope for their sake Nando’s keep grilling.
Perhaps the voters will listen now…