The return of the valued secret comes five months after it was temporarily moved to a secure off-site location while security upgrades were performed at the vault at KFC headquarters.
The recipe lays out a mix of 11 herbs and spices that coat the chain's Original Recipe chicken, including exact amounts for each ingredient. It is written in pencil and signed by Harland Sanders.
The iconic recipe is now protected by an array of high-tech security gadgets, including motion detectors and cameras that allow guards to monitor the vault around the clock.
"It's like an onion of security — many layers," said security expert Bo Dietl, who brought the recipe back to the building.
Thick concrete blocks encapsulate the vault, situated near office cubicles, that is connected to a backup generator to keep the security system operating in times of power outages.
"I can guarantee you, once it's in there, it will be safe," Dietl assured Eaton.
The recipe is such a tightly held secret that not even Eaton knows its full contents. Only two company executives at any time have access to the recipe. KFC won't release their names or titles, and it uses multiple suppliers who produce and blend the ingredients but know only a part of the entire contents.
“We’re glad to have the Secret Recipe safely back home,” said KFC President Roger Eaton. “The Colonel’s Original Recipe is priceless, so I’ve had a few sleepless nights while it was kept off site. I can finally get a good night’s sleep knowing it is now back in Louisville in our high-tech safe and vault.”
Colonel Harland Sanders created the now-famous Original Recipe in 1940, and it hasn’t changed since. Sanders’ Original Recipe fried chicken is a mainstay of the KFC menu and the recipe ranks among the world’s most valuable trade secrets.
The Secret Recipe's new high-tech home is like something out of a Hollywood movie. The custom-built, digital FireKing safe protecting the Secret Recipe weighs more than 770 lbs and has a 1/2" thick steel door. The computerized safe also boasts a dual-opening system that requires both a smart key and a personal identification number (PIN). A built-in silent alarm and time lock feature provide additional layers of safekeeping, which will alert the security team of any attempted intrusion and allow access to the safe only during pre-set periods of time.
But the new safeguards don’t end with the safe. The vault housing the new safe is reinforced with two feet of concrete in the ceiling, walls and floor to ensure that no one can tunnel or drill into the vault. Additionally, the vault and safe are now under 24-hour video and motion-detection surveillance.
Last September, KFC temporarily relocated the prized possession to an undisclosed secure location while upgrades were made under the supervision of corporate security expert and former New York City Police Detective Bo Dietl.
“The Colonel and KFC kept the Secret Recipe safe for 68 years and while the recipe has never changed, times have and the security needed an upgrade,” Dietl said. “We designed this system to keep the recipe under wraps for at least another 68 years.”
a very informative and interesting piece, good work dave.
ReplyDeleteWent to KFC this afternoon and was shocked by the prices and for the amount of food they give you.
ReplyDeleteFor $5.39 we were given a pie shaped piece of chicken....biscuit and drink and the smallest order of mashed potatoes and gravey I have ever seen.
Be assured that we will NEVER go to KFC again....