California Fried Chicken (CFC) is an Indonesian fast food restaurant chain principally serving
fried chicken. Its primary competitors are
KFC,
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
,
A&W, and
Texas Chicken, and as of March 2019, it runs 269 locations across Indonesia.
History
The chain was established in
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
in
Jakarta as a franchise of the American-based
Pioneer Take Out,
[Link]
via LexisNexis
LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer info ...
. has an American name and is now entirely Indonesian owned.
The same group supplies the chain, the
Sierad Group, which also supplies chicken to
Wendy's
Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was t ...
and
KFC.
Its mascot was Calfred, mainly used in the 1990s.
It is the main PT Pioneerindo Gourmet International Tbk brand, which was listed on the
Jakarta Stock Exchange
Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) ( Indonesian: Bursa Efek Jakarta (BEJ)) was a stock exchange based in Jakarta, Indonesia, before it merged with the Surabaya Stock Exchange to form the Indonesia Stock Exchange.
History
Originally opened in 1912 und ...
in 1994. The firm also runs Sapo Oriental and Cal Donat outlets in Jakarta and employs 1,400 people.
Studies conducted by the ''
Jakarta Post
''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Niskala Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta.
''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian me ...
'' reveal that it is the fifth most popular fast food chain in Indonesia after
Restoran Sederhana, KFC,
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...
and
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert a ...
. As the westernization of Indonesia took off in the 1990s, California Fried Chicken took advantage of the growth of American-style malls in the country, reaching 90 by 1998.
It is now common to see branches of the chain in malls or near supermarkets, often in direct competition with neighboring branches of the global brands of the above-mentioned and
Dunkin' Donuts.
According to an article in ''
Adweek
''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...
'', California Fried Chicken was founded by three Indonesians who wanted to introduce the taste of Pioneer Chicken to their homeland that they had enjoyed during their stay in California while attending the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
.
The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' mentioned that California Fried Chicken had stores in China during the 1990s.
However, these stores do not appear to currently exist.
In 2008, the firm opened new outlets in
Salatiga
Salatiga ( jv, ꦯꦭꦠꦶꦒ) is a city in Central Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of and had a population of 192,322 at the 2020 Census. Located between the cities of Semarang and Surakarta, and administratively an independent c ...
and
Central Java, marketed in a way that meets local demands by serving traditional Indonesian food staples of fried noodles and rice with chicken.
Logo
The logo and marketing of California Fried Chicken is very similar to that of a carriage. Like the KFC logo, CFC uses red and white with the letters CFC and features a cartoon old western white and blue wagon on a yellow circular background.
Its advertising slogan was "Bukan Cuma Ayam", a translation of "Not Just Chicken" in the Indonesian language.
Criticism
Although the chain has become a significant success, it has not been without its criticism as globalization of American culture takes full swing.
It has been criticized for "being a KFC clone".
See also
*
List of fast-food chicken restaurants
This is a list of notable chicken restaurants. This list includes casual dining, fast casual and fast food restaurants which typically specialize in chicken dishes such as fried chicken, chicken and waffles, Chicken sandwiches or chicken and ...
References
External links
Official website
{{Establishments serving chicken
Fast-food chains of Indonesia
Fast-food poultry restaurants
Restaurants established in 1983
Indonesian brands
Indonesian companies established in 1983