KFC's Secret Hiding Place

One of my favorite things to read in a Tuesday's Bowling Green (Ky) Daily News newspaper is the "American Profile" magazine insert. A particular section which intrigues me the most is called, "Tidbits-Did You Know?" I always pay close attention to this section because it's about my part of the country, the American South.

One week recently the tidbit of information was about my state-Kentucky. Under the headline, "State Of Kentucky," it read, "Col. Harland Sanders' handwritten recipe for his famous original Kentucky Fried Chicken was placed in a new electronic vault last February (2010) at the corporate headquarters in Louisville, Ky. The recipe, on a single sheet of yellowing paper, is protected by an array of high-tech security gadgets, including motion detectors and camera that allow guards to monitor the vault around the clock."

For some weird reason, I was amazed and impressed. The first thing that entered my mind was, "Is this a publicity stunt? Is this for real?" After thinking a few minutes about it, I realized that it must be for real because I have always heard rumors that KFC which is owned by Louisville based YUM Brands Inc. is very protective of their secret recipe just like the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Atlanta is very secretive of their original Coke formula. Colonel Sanders was also secretive about his recipe. I've even heard that Coke also has their recipe in a vault and it is separated and no single person knows the whole formula. It takes two people who has a half of recipe to formulate the Coke.

It's incredible to think of the great lengths that these companies go to in order to preserve their secretive recipes. But I had to realize that the reason that these world famous name brands are being preserve and protected is not only for a financial means (because billions and billions of dollars depend of recipes especially since both are global products) but also for historic purposes as well. When I think of KFC or Coke, I always think about consumers in China eating KFC and drinking Coke. I can also picture Chinese people shopping at Wal-Mart and eating at McDonalds in China too. I wonder what secret recipes or formulas that Wal-Mart or McDonalds is hiding and protecting from the world? Maybe, it's the secret formula for global dominance in their markets.