How Japan became addicted to KFC at Christmas

In Iceland, Hamborgarhryggur, a type of ham steak, although sometimes it is reindeer, is served at six in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. In the Philippines, as in many Latin American cultures, a ham is eaten around midnight to celebrate the eve of December 25. And in the UK, after binging on the eggnog and untangling the Christmas lights, you’ll probably devour a turkey with trimmings. There are no rules for Christmas dinner; just debates about origins, superiority, and whether this will be the year you shut up that annoying family member. But there is one tradition that steals all the spotlight for being the strangest: Every Christmas, the Japanese eat a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) menu.

A bucket of chicken under the tree

To understand why, we must travel back in time to December 1974, when KFC Japan, a company run by the American parent company and the Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation, had only been serving the country of the rising sun for four years. Legend has it that manager Takeshi Okawara overheard some foreigners in his store lamenting the lack of Christmas dinners in the country. Later, in a dream, Okawara envisioned a “party bucket”: a fried chicken experience as a replacement for turkey for those sad expats.for a modest price and with everything included.

The plan went well, that manager became president and CEO of Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan from 1984 to 2002. “KFC arrived in Japan in 1970, and carried out the first Christmas campaign in 1974, selling the combination of the original recipe of KFC chicken and a bottle of wine. It immediately became a hit and introduced a new Christmas custom to the Japanese market,” suggests Yuko Nakajima, director of marketing from KFC Japan. It is estimated that every year 3.6 million Japanese fill their stomachs with Colonel Sanders’ secret blend of herbs and spices.

The logistics of such a company are not simple: “KFC Japan prepares for the Christmas season all year round, the team has been preparing for the following Christmas since July,” says Nakajima. KFC Japan records peak annual sales between December 23 and 25; The company sells approximately 300,000 party buckets and 800,000 Christmas packages during peak season, accounting for about a third of the chain’s annual sales in Japan.

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“It’s not as simple as showing up on Christmas Day and demanding a chicken dinner,” Nakajima says. Every year there are queues starting on December 23, and Christmas Eve is the most popular date, about ten times busier than normal. Some factors contribute to logistics: 40% of orders are placed in advance and begin to arrive about six weeks before ChristmasFor example, in 2019 orders started from November 1st.

And just like Okawara’s dream, KFC creates larger “Christmas packs” and “party buckets” in an attempt to stay ahead of product demand. On the website, accompanied by photos of people eating chicken thighs and picking up orders with coleslaw and nuggets, there is the option to customize the order; The price ranges between 2,000 and 8,000 yen (between about $13 and $52).