KFC AM

One of the final taboos of modern life has been broken, the eating of Chicken for breakfast. KFC is in the process of launching its breakfast menu on an unsuspecting but soon to be eager clientele.

This is not the first time KFC has attempted breakfast, Foodspot.org reports of their paltry attemps in 2004 at an egg end bacon sandwich, paying only lip service to the Chicken (with the egg)

The Company's flagship marble arch branch was chosen to host the ops shakedown of the planned breakfast menu. This is the process whereby one store trials said product and perfects timings, staffing levels, popularity and equipment amongst other criteria.

KFC UK is currently the vanguard, spearheading the development and implementation of KFC breakfasts the world over.

From 6am until 10.30 am those finding themselves in West London can enjoy a breakfast from en extensive range of newly developed products. What's more following the success of the Marble Arch trial, an extended test area has been set up in the Tyne Tees region in the North East of England in a further 15 branches. With it's own local TV advertising the nation waits with baited breath for KFC UK to give the go ahead for a nationwide roll out in the coming months.

In its nascent stages there was an extensive menu featuring some prime time menu items turned breakfast and some entirely new concepts in fine morning dining such as the AM Loader, along with the Breakfast platter which this reporter has been lucky enough to sample.

My First sample was of te A.M. Loader. This product is breakfast, eggy bread, sausage, tomato ketchup, hash brown & bacon make this the greatest fast food breakfast item currently on the market. With wholly oven cooked ingredients there is no greasy griddled sausage patty unlike some competitors. This is a heavyweight breakfast product presesnted in attractive, innovative packaging.

Most recently on the 24th March I opted for the AM Platter which gave me the chance to sample each constituent ingredient individually as well as sampling the new Lavazza coffee which will be rolled out nationwide, replacing the ersatz Nescafe we've had to endure up until now.

First off, the AM platter represents fantastic value for money. For under three pounds (2.79 to be exact) you get: bacon, sausage, hash brown, eggy bread, omelette, regular beans and a Lavazza coffee. I set about eating, in no particular order at first thinking my platter was a little dry. I had of course forgotten to open the beans. The beans however were unnecessary, no ingredient was soggy but nor could any be described as dry. Particular stand outs were the eggy bread, hash brown and sausage. So good in fact that at times i was forced just to pause and let it all sink in, this was haute cuisine fast food.

Of particular interest to myself was the new Lavaza coffee. I was trained by one of the UKs leading coffee experts Paul Meikle Janney at his Yorkshire Coffee Academy. Therefore I wanted to give the coffee a thorough critique. I am pleased to report that this has a true coffee taste, smooth and flavoursome unlike most burnt tasting coffees.I found it full-bodied and fat on the tongue, with the kind of pleasantly fermented fruit tones that suggest chocolate-covered cherries. A shimmer of sharp acidity is balanced by sweetness. The finish is clean, rich and chocolaty. Slightly disappointing in small milk, where the coffee seems to simplify without softening, but in larger milk the fruit and chocolate tones bloom nicely.

There are of course detractors. David Kisilevsky BK vice Pesident said he would be "surprised" if the initiative takes off and went onto say "I believe KFC will struggle to pursuade UK customers to accept a breakfast offering"

However neutral parties take a different view:

Penny Harris, senior inventor for innovation agency ?What If!, called in on day two and was impressed by the food, staff attitude and reaction from customers. 'What struck me is that it felt quite natural. People seemed to take it for granted that KFC was open at that time serving breakfast,' she says. Nonetheless she also questioned its positioning. 'I would like to see KFC communicate a freshness message,' she says. 'The menu offers free-range eggs and smoothies but KFC doesn't seem to want to capitalise on that.'

The real acid test however comes from the customers and judging by the success in London and subsequent expansion, people it seems are voting with their feet.