1. KFC Initially Ignored a Centuries-Old Israeli Tradition. Israel has the highest number of devout Jews in the world, and there are several dietary laws that the Jews follow religiously. The food that is cooked keeping these regulations in mind is called kosher food (similar to Halal food in Islam).
Previous attempts by KFC to enter the Israeli market failed, as the company could not find a successful recipe to make kosher their world-famous fried chicken, since KFC's recipe everywhere else mixes meat and milk, which is forbidden by Jewish religious law.
KFC Israel (Hebrew: קנטאקי פרייד צ'יקן) is the Israeli franchise of KFC, which opened its first branch in Israel in the 1980s.
KFC hiring staff ahead of reopening in Israel
For the time being the basic recipe KFC is selling in Israel is not kosher and the company says, "one of the lessons learned from the KFC experience in Israel is not to be flexible on the flavoring.
North Korea! OK, so there is no KFC in North Korea, but during talks about opening up the country, KFC with its experience in China was touted as a foreign company that might enter the market. It never happened, but you are more likely to see a KFC in Pyongyang than any other chain.
KFC, the fried-chicken restaurant chain, has halted operations in Fiji, amid a row over imports of the ingredients to make its flavoured crumb coating.
While McDonald's is a global icon, the fast-food giant does not have a presence in many countries worldwide. There are 123 countries where McDonald's has not set up a restaurant yet, including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and North Korea, among many others.
As you can read in the excerpt above, one such religious law states that meat and dairy should never be mixed while cooking — but KFC does that every day around the whole world. They even did it in Israel. Dairy is one of the key ingredients in KFC's fried chicken, which is a big no-no in the eyes of devout Jews.
In Israel, most branches are non-kosher since they serve cheeseburgers (which are non-kosher, i.e. do not conform to traditional Jewish dietary law) by special request (they are not on the menu) and they serve milk-based desserts (ice cream, milkshakes).
Yet, for most kosher-observant Jews, McDonald's is a big red flag. Unless you live in Israel, that is. Of the 36,000 McDonalds locations in the world, there are only a few dozen that don't serve bacon or cheeseburgers and adhere to strict kosher laws.
China is its biggest market with more than 5,600 outlets while 12 million people eat at KFC restaurants every day around the world.
In addition to Koch Foods, Pilgrim's Pride, Tyson, and Case Farms are also reported to be KFC suppliers. Of these companies, only Tyson has a meaningful antibiotics stewardship policy.
KFC is best known for serving fried chicken to Americans by the bucketful, but it actually makes most of its money in China. And China is the most profitable market of KFC's parent company Yum Brands, which also includes Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
Competitive threats began to multiply. Few competed with KFC head-on in fried chicken, but China's fast-food market was fast maturing, leading to a plethora of choices that would eat away at KFC's market share.
French fries from a non-certified establishment are almost certainly non-kosher. French fries are prepared in a deep fryer and the same oil is probably used to fry chicken, cheese sticks and other types of foods.
According to Vered, Israelis tend to put bacon in a different category: “A lot of people in Israel eat bacon even though they declare themselves as people that don't eat pork.” Some Jews believe that the word “pig” in Hebrew contains in it a promise for a pork-filled future.
Pig meat is not sold in any ordinary Israeli grocery stores or delis, since the vast majority of the Israeli public are Jews and Muslims, and both religions forbid such foods.
In our KFC Halal restaurants we do not handle any pork ingredients, and all the food and drink items served in these restaurants are approved by the Halal Food Authority. This ensures the very best Halal food standards but does mean that certain menu items and limited time offers may not be available.
“McDonald and KFC are serving only Halal-certified meat... We have submitted a memorandum to the managements of KFC and McDonald's not to serve Halal products to Hindus,” he said. They have demanded a separate list of Halal and non-Halal items at KFC and McDonald's within a week.
It's the forbidden fruit… unless peeled. The strawberry has been the cause of much rabbinical consternation in recent years. The reason is that many rabbis believe strawberries to be a favorite hangout for insects, and eating an insect is actually more problematic in Jewish law than eating pork.
It's actually in Russia. There's more than 200 McDonald's outlets in Russia, but the one in Pushkin Square in Moscow holds the distinction as being the busiest in the world. Pushkin Square is one of the busiest city squares in Russia and all the world.
Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, McDonald's temporarily suspended all operations in the country on 8 March. In May, the company announced that it would sell all of its restaurants in Russia, which were rebranded as Vkusno i tochka.
The idea of paying double for a burger, a glass of Coke, and some fries didn't appeal to the Vietnamese customers. Even though there are local adaptations in the menu, such as chicken rice and grilled pork rice with egg, the vast majority of customers weren't financially prepared to visit McDonald's frequently.