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...millions of Chinese find their wealth swelling and their time shrinking, sit-down meals involving several generations no longer fit the needs of a hurried and harried middle class. "The lifestyle is changing," says Su. "People are getting more urbanized and busy, with less time to cook at home." KFC's grab-and-go menu items were a novel solution, while Pizza Hut launched the concept of eating out at a casual restaurant with the whole family. KFC opened its first drive-through in 2002 just as China was becoming a car-owning culture. In 2001 Pizza Hut Home Service...
...quixotic, then Novak, 55, is the right man for the job. The CEO of Yum since 2000, he's a plain-talking, cheerleading executive who boasts of never having attended business school. He's given to goofy team-building tactics like passing out rubber chickens (and $100) to KFC managers whose stores are performing well. A former $7,200-a-year advertising copywriter, Novak took his marketing chops to PepsiCo in 1987. Though he suffered his biggest failure there--Crystal Pepsi, which he still contends was the right idea at the wrong time--he was handed the reins...
...quality and service associated with an American brand. The formula developed by Yum's other banners overseas--cheap food delivered in cheerful surroundings--has provided a welcome mat for the company. Diner Frank Li, a project engineer on a trip from Suzhou, says the restaurant's link to KFC and Pizza Hut is a draw, not a drawback. "Those places are good quality," he says. "You know what you're going to get. They are a very professional company that must know what it's doing, and I think the quality here shows that...
What does appear sustainable is the world's appetite for Yum's fast food. Not everybody thinks that's a good thing. After all, this is the company whose top-selling new product is the KFC Famous Bowl: breaded, fried chicken strips, corn, cheese, gravy and mashed potatoes--a 710-calorie dish that the comedian Patton Oswalt calls a "failure pile in a sadness bowl." Fast foods--even those that mimic local cuisines--represent a dramatic change in diet for many cultures. "When you offer high-calorie food to a thin population, they go from small to large very quickly...
...part, Yum argues that it's not exporting fatty foods so much as offering tasty options to the global public. "The answer to the nutrition issue is balance and exercise," says Novak, pointing to a basketball tournament sponsored by KFC in China and a menu there that includes healthier alternatives like roasted chicken. In fact, the roasted menu items are such a hit in China that Yum executives are testing them out in the U.S. It's an interesting twist: Yum is looking to the soaring international business to expand its appeal at home. What about bringing its Chinese-food...