End of era as Kenchic bows out of fast food business to focus on processing

Kenchic, a company synonymous with fast food in major towns across the country, has stopped its eatery business.

The company has announced it will retreat to rearing and selling chicks and chicken.

Philip Carolan, the operations manager at the firm, said franchise holders would operate the eateries until the end of next month.

“With the current fast food market evolving rapidly in Kenya, Kenchic Limited has decided to withdraw Kenchic Inn from the market and concentrate on its core business of chicken processing,” he said in a notice to customers and franchise holders.

Steady decline

March 31 is the last day customers will see the Kenchic Inn logo after several decades of the outlets lining streets across the country.

However, there has been a gradual but steady decline in the number of Kenchic Inn-branded outlets to the current 20.

Mr Carolan explained that the firm will discontinue the use of the brand, but will continue supplying chicken to the outlets if the owners of the fast food joints want to stay on as customers.

Insiders told The Standard that the drastic decision to end the brand, largely associated with fried chicken, was taken after a major shift in the fast food segment.

The franchise is now viewed as a small player in a multi-billion-shilling industry that has attracted global companies. Already, several international brands, including the US’s KFC and Subway, have set up in several locations around Nairobi and are eyeing the counties.

While tens of Kenchic Inns dotted Nairobi’s Moi Avenue some five years ago, for instance, there are hardly any left. In their place are other fast food outlets that are not associated with the brand.

Further, some Kenchic Inns were in effect relegated to less affluent locations, a factor that is thought to have contributed to eroding the value of the company’s brand.

“We have not been able to maintain the standards that we desire as a company, so when you have customers complaining of bad food, you can guess what that does to our brand,” said an official.

Kenchic is the country’s largest chicken processor and is thought to be a main supplier of the birds to major eateries around Nairobi, in addition to grocery shops and its franchised outlets.

Owners of Kenchic Inn outlets have minimum standards they are required to maintain in terms of quality, but the firm has been unable to ensure the specifications are met.

As a result, the brand has had to contend with a dwindling image among customers — despite the prices for various fast foods, including its signature chips and chicken, selling at a fraction of the going rate among industry rivals.