Yum! Brands, Inc. (or Yum!), formerly Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., is an American
fast food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...
corporation listed on the
Fortune 1000
The Fortune 1000 are the 1,000 largest American companies ranked by revenues, as compiled by the American business magazine ''Fortune''. It only includes companies which are incorporated or authorized to do business in the United States, and for ...
. Yum! operates the brands
KFC
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
,
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 at d ...
,
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...
, and
The Habit Burger Grill
The Habit Burger Grill is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in charbroiled hamburgers. The company also sells other typical fast-casual fare. Its headquarters are in Irvine, California.
In March 2020, Yum! Brands, the p ...
, except in China, where the brands are operated by a separate company,
Yum China
Yum China Holdings, Inc. () is a Chinese Fortune 500 fast-food restaurant company based in Shanghai, China. With US$9.5 billion in revenue and 10,600 restaurants worldwide it is one of the largest restaurant companies. It was spun off from Yum ...
. Yum! previously also owned
Long John Silver's
Long John Silver's (formerly known as Long John Silver's Seafood Shoppes and sometimes abbreviated as LJS) is an American chain of fast-food restaurants that specializes in seafood. The brand's name is derived from the novel ''Treasure Island ...
and
A&W Restaurants
A&W Restaurants is an American fast food restaurant chain distinguished by its Hamburger, burgers, draft root beer and root beer floats. Being the oldest restaurant chain in America, A&W's origins date back to 1919 when Roy W. Allen set up a r ...
.
Based in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, Yum! is one of the world's largest
fast food restaurant
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...
companies in terms of system units. In 2016, Yum! had 43,617 restaurants, including 2,859 that were company-owned and 40,758 that were franchised, in 135 nations and territories worldwide.
History
PepsiCo fast food division
The company's history began in 1977, when
PepsiCo
PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...
entered the restaurant business by acquiring
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 at d ...
. A year later, PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell.
In July 1986,
R. J. Reynolds
Richard Joshua Reynolds (July 20, 1850 – July 29, 1918) was an American businessman and founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
The son of a tobacco farmer, he worked for his father and attended Emory & Henry College from 1868 to 1870 ...
sold KFC to PepsiCo
to pay off debt from its recent purchase of
Nabisco
Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Nabisco's ...
. In 1990,
Hot 'n Now
Hot 'n Now is an American fast-food restaurant based in Holt, Michigan. Founded in 1984, the chain once grew to more than 150 locations throughout the United States at its peak. Subsequently, under the ownership of PepsiCo, the chain filed for ...
was acquired via Taco Bell,
but the company was sold in 1996. In 1992, PepsiCo acquired
California Pizza Kitchen
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is an American casual dining restaurant chain that specializes in California-style pizza. The restaurant was started in 1985 by attorneys Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax in Beverly Hills, California, United States. ...
. In 1993, it acquired
Chevys Fresh Mex
Chevys Fresh Mex is an American chain of Mexican-style casual dining restaurants located in the United States. The chain was founded in 1986 by Warren Simmons in Alameda, California. The chain's headquarters are currently located in Cypress, Cal ...
,
D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches
D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches is a chain of 83 neighborhood-style sandwich shops found throughout New England, in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Founded in 1967 in Dedham, Massachusetts, D’Angelo Grilled Sand ...
, and the American division of Canadian chain
East Side Mario's
East Side Mario's is a Canadian chain of casual dining restaurants, managed by its parent holding company Recipe Unlimited. The restaurant specializes in Italian-American cuisine. Individual locations aim to recreate the historic ambience found ...
. These chains were later sold when PepsiCo exited the restaurant business and spun off KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (see next paragraph). In 1997, PepsiCo sold PepsiCo Food Systems restaurant-supply unit to Ameriserve Food Distribution Inc.
Tricon Global Restaurants
![Tricon Yum Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Tricon_Yum_Logo.svg)
Yum! was created in 1997 as Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. from
PepsiCo
PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...
's fast food division as the parent corporation of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurant companies.
The decision was announced in January and the
spin off was effected on 6 October. Tricon selected Louisville as its headquarters, near the KFC Restaurant Support Center from the Pepsi HQ in Purchase, New York, by early 1998.
[
In 2000, Tricon Global tested multi-branded locations with Yorkshire Global Restaurants. By March 2002, the Tricon-Yorkshire multibranding test consisted of 83 KFC/A&Ws, six KFC/Long John Silver's and three Taco Bell/Long John Silver's and was considered successful by the companies.]
In 2001, KFC started test restaurants in Austin, Texas, called "Wing Works", a chicken wing line sold with one of a few flavored sauces. KFC also hired a consultant to develop a breakfast menu.
Yum! Brands
Yorkshire in March 2002 announced it would merge with Tricon Global Restaurants to form Yum! Brands. The merger was finalized on May 8, 2002, and the name change became effective on May 22, 2002 On June 6, 2002, Yum! executed a two-for-one stock split
A stock split or stock divide increases the number of shares in a company. For example, after a 2-for-1 split, each investor will own double the number of shares, and each share will be worth half as much.
A stock split causes a decrease of mark ...
. Shortly afterwards, due to Yum!'s lifetime contract with Pepsi, Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurants (which previously served Coca-Cola products) began switching to Pepsi products, with A&W Restaurants retaining A&W Root Beer
A&W Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was founded in 1919 by Roy W. Allen – A&W root beer's official history and primarily available in the United States and Canada. Allen partnered with Frank Wright in 1922, creating the A&W ...
from a separate deal with Dr Pepper/Seven Up
Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. (DPSU, or Dr Pepper 7UP, Inc.) was a Plano, Texas-based soft-drink manufacturing company created by the merger of Dr Pepper, Inc. and The 7 Up Company on May 19, 1986. The merger was a result of the independent bailout ...
(now Keurig Dr Pepper
Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1981–2014) and Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018), is a publicly traded American beverage and coffeemaker conglomerate with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts. Formed in ...
).
In 2002, Yum! began testing co-branding locations pairing Pizza Hut with Pasta Bravo
Pasta Bravo was a fast casual restaurant of Irvine, California. At its height, Pasta Bravo operated 16 restaurants throughout the Orange and San Diego counties.
History
Pasta Bravo was founded by Tim Aspel in 1988, at The Crossroads Center in I ...
, Back Yard Burgers
Back Yard Burgers, Inc., is an American regional franchise chain of quick serve restaurants. As of March 2022, there are 38 restaurants in the Southern and Midwestern United States. Back Yard Burgers is a subsidiary of private equity firm Axum ...
, and A&W. The Pasta Bravo concept was acquired in 2003 from Pasta Bravo, Inc. of Aliso Viejo, California for $5 million to pair with Pizza Hut.
In 2003, Yum! launched WingStreet as a hybrid combo unit with an existing Pizza Hut franchise. In 2007 and 2008, a thousand WingStreet stores a year were opened. On October 19, 2009, Company president Scott Bergren publicized WingStreet's national launch.
An East Dawning
East Dawning (, Dongfang Jibai) is Yum China's fusion of the KFC business model with Chinese cuisine. Chinese food is served exclusively, but the chain focuses on the elements of Chinese cuisine that are more quickly and easily prepared. This e ...
test cafeteria-style restaurant
A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the United States, U.S., is a type of Foodservice, food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a lar ...
was opened in Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
in 2004. After initially failing, Yum! Brands chose the KFC business model (KFC is the most successful Western chain in China) and found greater success. As of September 30, 2007, eight East Dawning restaurants were in operation.
International focus
In January 2011, Yum! announced its intentions to divest itself of its Long John Silver's and A&W brands to focus on its core brands of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. For the decade leading up to the company's announcement, major growth had relied on international expansion. With little presence outside North America, the two chains no longer fit in the company's long-term growth plans. The foreign expansion—particularly that of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut—was cited in the firm's January 18, 2011 announcement of its intention to sell the A&W and Long John Silver's chains. Both of those chains also suffered from poor sales, and had fewer locations compared to the other chains in the Yum! Brands portfolio. In September 2011, Yum! announced they had found buyers for the A&W and Long John Silver's chains. A Great American Brand will buy A&W, and Long John Silver's will be acquired by LJS Partners LLC.
In May 2011, Yum! agreed to purchase Chinese hot pot
Hot pot or hotpot (), also known as soup-food or steamboat, is a cooking method that originated in China. A heat source on the dining table keeps a pot of soup stock simmering, and a variety of Chinese foodstuffs and ingredients are served b ...
chain Little Sheep for HK$
The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is subdivided into 100 cents or 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong and ...
4.56 billion. The deal spent more than 4 months in antitrust review by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, to determine whether or not the transaction would result in a monopolistic positioning of Yum! in the country's restaurant industry. The Ministry approved the deal in November 2011, according to Little Sheep representatives.
In 2012, a KFC opened in Ramallah
Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...
and became the first American fast food restaurant to operate in the West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
; a Pizza Hut is also planned.
In 2013, a few KFC locations in China supplied chicken found to contain "excess levels of chemical residue". Yum! had lost 6% of sales from publicity in China as of January 25, 2013.
The company opened its first restaurant in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in May 2013. For Mongolia, KFC is the first western fast food to open its doors in the country. The company is planning to open 15 more restaurants in Ulaanbaatar in the next 5 years, including the country's first drive-thru service. Yum! Brands has also opened Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants in newer Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
stores.
Yum! Brands opened its 40,000th store in Calangute
Calangute is a town in the North Goa district of the Indian state of Goa. It is famous for its beach, the largest in North Goa and a popular tourist destination. The peak tourist season is during Christmas and New Year, and during the summer in ...
, Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
, India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
in October 2013.
In 2013, its KFC subsidiary opened a fast casual version, KFC eleven, test location in Louisville on Bardstown Road. The sole KFC Eleven was closed in April 2015. In the third quarter of 2013, Yum! Brands had to book an impairment of the goodwill resulting from the takeover of Little Sheep in 2011 in the amount of $222 million, which reduced profits for 2013.
In 2014, Yum! launched a number of additional restaurant test concepts, Super Chix, U.S. Taco Co. and Banh Shop. Yum! opened Super Chix in Central Arlington, Texas, a restaurant similar in format to Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...
, on April 9, 2014. In the summer of 2014, Yum!'s Taco Bell subsidiary launched its U.S. Taco Co and Urban Tap Room fast-casual taco concept restaurant in Huntington Beach, California, to take on fast casual restaurants like Chipotle
A chipotle (, ; ), or ''chilpotle'', is a smoking (food), smoke-dried ripe jalapeño chili pepper used for seasoning. It is a chili used primarily in Mexican cuisine, Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Tex-Mex cuisine, Tex-Mex and So ...
and Panera
Panera Bread is an American chain store of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri.
The company operates as Saint Louis ...
.
In the first quarter of 2015, Third Point Management
Third Point Management is a New York City, New York-based hedge fund founded by Daniel S. Loeb in 1995. The firm operates as an employee-owned and SEC-registered investment advisor with approximately $16 billion in assets under management . A ...
and Corvex Management separately acquired an unspecified stake in the company. A second Chix unit opened in May 2015 with additional menu items. Super Chix was sold to founder Nick Ouimet and an investment group in August 2015.[
In 2017, Yum! announced plans to open 10 Pizza Hut restaurants in ]Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, after signing a franchise with the country's Belayab Foods and Franchise PLC.
In January 2020, Yum! announced they were acquiring Irvine, California-based The Habit Burger Grill
The Habit Burger Grill is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in charbroiled hamburgers. The company also sells other typical fast-casual fare. Its headquarters are in Irvine, California.
In March 2020, Yum! Brands, the p ...
, for $375 million; the transaction has completed on March 18, 2020.
In 2020 and 2021, Yum! acquired several technology companies. In March 2020, it acquired Heartstyles, an omnichannel training company. In March 2021, it acquired Tictuk Technologies, an Israeli omnichannel ordering and marketing solutions provider, and announced it was acquiring Kvantum Inc., an artificial intelligence-based consumer insights and marketing technology company. In September 2021, Yum! completed the acquisition of Australian kitchen order management and delivery technology company Dragontail Systems for US$69.1 million in cash.
Corporate
The current CEO of Yum! Brands is David Gibbs. Former CEOs include Greg Creed
Greg Creed (born c.1958) is an American businessman who was the CEO of Yum! Brands, from January 2015 until December 2019, when he retired, remaining on its board of directors.
He was the CEO of Taco Bell, from February 2011 until January 2015. H ...
and David C. Novak. Novak became CEO of predecessor firm Tricon Global on January 1, 2000, and chairman of the board
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
on January 1, 2001. Greg Creed
Greg Creed (born c.1958) is an American businessman who was the CEO of Yum! Brands, from January 2015 until December 2019, when he retired, remaining on its board of directors.
He was the CEO of Taco Bell, from February 2011 until January 2015. H ...
replaced Novak in his role as CEO on January 1, 2015. At the AGM in May 2016, Robert D. Walter
Robert D. Walter (born 1944) is an American businessman best known for his role in the creation of Cardinal Health.
Early life
Walter graduated from St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus, Ohio, and received a B.A. degree from Ohio University ...
became non-executive chairman. At the end of 2019 Greg Creed will retire as CEO and the current COO (David Gibbs) will be Creed's replacement.
Since 2006, Yum! Brands has served as the corporate sponsor of the Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
.
On October 20, 2015, Yum! Brands, Inc., announced that it intended to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies. Yum China
Yum China Holdings, Inc. () is a Chinese Fortune 500 fast-food restaurant company based in Shanghai, China. With US$9.5 billion in revenue and 10,600 restaurants worldwide it is one of the largest restaurant companies. It was spun off from Yum ...
was spun off on November 1, 2016."Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) today announced that it has completed the separation of Yum China Holdings, Inc. ("Yum China") from Yum! Brands, creating two powerful, independent, focused growth companies."
/ref>
Brands
Current
* KFC
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
* 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 at d ...
* Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...
* Banh Shop (minority investor)
* The Habit Burger Grill
The Habit Burger Grill is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in charbroiled hamburgers. The company also sells other typical fast-casual fare. Its headquarters are in Irvine, California.
In March 2020, Yum! Brands, the p ...
Former
* A&W Restaurants
A&W Restaurants is an American fast food restaurant chain distinguished by its Hamburger, burgers, draft root beer and root beer floats. Being the oldest restaurant chain in America, A&W's origins date back to 1919 when Roy W. Allen set up a r ...
– Sold to A Great American Brand LLC, a consortium of A&W franchisees, in 2011
* D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches
D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches is a chain of 83 neighborhood-style sandwich shops found throughout New England, in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Founded in 1967 in Dedham, Massachusetts, D’Angelo Grilled Sand ...
– Sold to Papa Gino's
Papa Gino's, Inc. is a restaurant chain based in Dedham, Massachusetts, specializing in traditional thin crust pizza along with pasta, subs, salads, and a variety of appetizers. As of 2022, there are 80 Papa Gino's locations in Connecticut, Mass ...
in 1997
* Hot 'n Now
Hot 'n Now is an American fast-food restaurant based in Holt, Michigan. Founded in 1984, the chain once grew to more than 150 locations throughout the United States at its peak. Subsequently, under the ownership of PepsiCo, the chain filed for ...
– Acquired by PepsiCo in 1990, placed under the Taco Bell branch. Now mostly defunct, with only 1 out of 150 remaining in Sturgis, Michigan, now owned by BTND, LLC the owner of Burger Time
Burger Time is a regional chain of drive-through fast food restaurants that is headquartered in West Fargo, North Dakota. Its original restaurant was founded in Fargo, North Dakota in 1987, and it currently has nine locations in North Dakota, Mi ...
* Long John Silver's
Long John Silver's (formerly known as Long John Silver's Seafood Shoppes and sometimes abbreviated as LJS) is an American chain of fast-food restaurants that specializes in seafood. The brand's name is derived from the novel ''Treasure Island ...
– Sold to LJS Partners, Long John Silver's franchisees and other private investors, in 2011
* Pasta Bravo
Pasta Bravo was a fast casual restaurant of Irvine, California. At its height, Pasta Bravo operated 16 restaurants throughout the Orange and San Diego counties.
History
Pasta Bravo was founded by Tim Aspel in 1988, at The Crossroads Center in I ...
* Super Chix[
* ]East Dawning
East Dawning (, Dongfang Jibai) is Yum China's fusion of the KFC business model with Chinese cuisine. Chinese food is served exclusively, but the chain focuses on the elements of Chinese cuisine that are more quickly and easily prepared. This e ...
– Spun off into Yum! China in 2016
* Little Sheep – Spun off into Yum! China in 2016
See also
* List of major employers in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville's major employers include United Parcel Service, Ford Motor Company and GE Appliances.
Major employers
* United Parcel Service
**UPS Airlines
* Ford Motor Company
** Kentucky Truck Plant
** Louisville Assembly Plant
* GE Appliance ...
*Yum China
Yum China Holdings, Inc. () is a Chinese Fortune 500 fast-food restaurant company based in Shanghai, China. With US$9.5 billion in revenue and 10,600 restaurants worldwide it is one of the largest restaurant companies. It was spun off from Yum ...
* Restaurant Brands
References
External links
*
{{Authority control, state=expanded
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Companies based in Louisville, Kentucky
Restaurants established in 1997
Multinational food companies
Restaurant groups in the United States
1997 establishments in Kentucky
American companies established in 1997
Corporate spin-offs