KFC LAUNCES ITS MOST INCLUSIVE RESTAURANT IN INDIA TO SUPPORT VARIOUS DISABILITIES
Marked by elements as braille menu, accommodating wheelchairs at dine-in tables & sign language aspects in décor
Chennai, 2nd December: Taking forward the brand’s commitment to nurture a community marked by Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, KFC India launched its most inclusive Special KFC restaurant in Amanora Mall, Pune, ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Operated by specially-abled team members, elements at this Sp ecial KFC restaurant include infrastructural design, accessibility & décor features to enhance customer experien ce & provide an inclusive environment.
The restaurant is an embodiment of the brand’s efforts with Kshamata – a program to bridge the gender & abilit y imbalance gap. With KFC Kshamata, the brand has pledged to drive 2X empowerment by 2024, by doubling th e number of Special KFCs, restaurants run by specially-abled team members, and increasing the women workforce at the restaurants.
The restaurant has been designed keeping accessibility at the core and majority of the décor features are in bra ille and sign language. All the signage outside & within the restaurant is accompanied by iterations in Indian Sign Language. This begins with the brand’s signature at the entrance where the iconic KFC is spelt in sign language, as well as all areas within the restaurant including the ordering & pick-up section and digital kiosks. The restau rant also features a signature wall highlighting alphabets from A to Z in braille and Indian Sign Language, to enco urage patrons visiting the restaurant to learn and #SpeakSign. The seating arrangement within the restaurant ha s been created to accommodate wheelchairs at dine-in tables.
KFC India has been a pioneer in enabling the Speech & Hearing Impaired by extending employment & growth op portunities to them since 2008, employing & supporting more than 150 Speech & Hearing-Impaired team mem bers across 19 cities. Recently, the brand announced a milestone in their journey with Kshamata, with the appo intment of the first specially-abled Restaurant General Manager in Hyderabad – Srikanth Jarugu.
On International Day of Sign Languages, 23rd September, KFC launched the #SpeakSign campaign and Ksham ata film – directed by filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, which aims at sensitizing & building awareness of sign language. Earlier this year, the brand also introduced braille menus across its 600+ restaurants in the country.
Taking the pledge beyond their restaurants, KFC partnered with the Indian Deaf Cricket Association (IDCA) as ‘Principal Sponsor’ to build visibility and growth for the sport of cricket for the hearing impaired in the country.
About KFC
KFC, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM.), is a global chicken restaurant brand with a rich, decades-lo ng history of success and innovation. It all started with one cook, Colonel Harland Sanders, who created a finger lickin’ good recipe more than 80 years ago, a list of secret herbs and spices scratched out on the back of the door to his kitchen. Today we still follow his formula for success, with real cooks breading and freshly preparing our delicious chicken by hand in more than 26,000 restaurants in over 145 countries and territories around the wo rld.
For more information, visit https://online.kfc.co.in/
