KFC Protective of Their Secret Recipe While Revamping Security
Arguably the most famous recipe in the restaurant industry, the Colonel's secret recipe with 11 herbs and spices is written on a piece of paper kept in a vault at their corporate offices. The yellowing sheet of notebook paper, handwritten by the Colonel himself, however, had to be transported this week to a temporary location for safekeeping while KFC beefed up security. Transportation security measures included bodyguards for the recipe and handcuffing the briefcase containing the recipe to KFC's president.
Much ado about nothing? Not at all. If the holders of a trade secret fail to take reasonable measures to maintain the secrecy, the value of their secret will be lost if the details are publicized.
I specifically discussed the KFC secret recipe in a recent article published in the Jacksonville Business Journal. The value of the KFC franchise, an internationally recognized business, comes from exclusive access to the recipe, which arrives prepared and ready to be used by the restaurant.
Labels: franchise, recipe, trade secret
