KFC announced a renewed commitment to diversity earlier this week during a presentation at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition & Citizenship Education Fund annual conference. KFC president Roger Eaton shared the company's new commitments and outlined plans to grow the number of minority franchisees, employees and suppliers in its system and the plans to increase marketing dollars spent with minority-owned agencies.
"At KFC, we are very proud of our diversity track record and the progress we've made over the years, but we realize there is more we can do," Eaton said.
Specifically, the company has committed to the following:
- Hiring a diversity director whose sole responsibility will be to ensure the new targets are met
- Creating more business and employment opportunities for minorities by increasing the number of franchise minority-owned restaurants by 33 percent by the year 2016
- Establishing a minority capital program that will facilitate access to capital and recruit and aid prospective minority franchisees, with a particular emphasis on African American and Hispanic business owners. Growing employee diversity by increasing minority representation at the director level and above by 25 percent by the year 2016
- Partnering with minority-owned marketing firms to develop marketing plans to best reach minority customers and to purchase up to 10 percent of KFC's national media funds
- Achieving 10 percent minority and women supplier purchasing by the end of this year and to increase that to 12.5 percent over the next five years
"We greatly appreciate the collaboration over the last several months with the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in helping us strengthen our diversity strategy and initiatives," Eaton said. "The action we've already taken toward our diversity goals is exciting and we look forward to the progress we expect to make over the next several years."
KFC parent Yum! Brands has been named among Black Enterprise magazine's Top 40 Best Companies for Diversity for five consecutive years, with the most recent listing released last June.
