KFC on the defensive after Karachi rioters trash two restaurants
More armed security guards are being deployed outside Pakistan's Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants following attacks by 1,000-strong crowds venting anger at the USA's military action in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Guards were unable to stop the destruction of two KFCs in Karachi this month. Both restaurants were closed at the time of the attacks and nobody was hurt. There are 12 KFC outlets in the city.
Even before the present crisis, franchise holder Cupola Pakistan employed at least two armed guards to protect its restaurants 24 hours a day because of ethnic conflict and the risks of transporting cash.
Rafiq Rangoonwala, chief executive of Cupola, said the cost of the damage was about $200,000 (£140,656), and the company was expecting a hike in insurance premiums as Cupola's insurers voiced concern over the claims.
He said that turnover was 20% down: "There is a fear of nuisance. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is calling strikes; the roads are blocked; hooligans are throwing stones and smashing windows. Although sporadic, they are keeping people away from the restaurants."
Cupola operates 18 KFCs, one TGI Friday's and one Pizza Express in Pakistan.
KFC restaurants are aimed at middle- and high-income-earning Pakistanis. An average meal costs PRs100 (£1.14) and an average monthly salary is PRs10,000 (£113.85).
