Over 800 out of about 900 KFC stores in the United Kingdom were forced to shut restaurants across the country after a logistics snafu hit chicken deliveries.
“Each day more deliveries are being made, however, we expect the disruption to some restaurants to continue over the remainder of the week, meaning some will be closed and others operating with a reduced menu or shortened hours,” a KFC spokesperson said in a statement emailed to CNN.
In a message posted on its UK Twitter account, KFC said “our teams are working round the clock” to reopen all restaurants.
KFC, which is owned by Taco Bell and Pizza Hut parent Yum!, said the chicken shortage had been caused by a “couple of teething problems” after it switched to a new delivery partner, DHL, last week.
DHL said that a number of deliveries had been “incomplete or delayed” because of “operational issues.” The German company apologised again but added that it was “not the only partly responsible for the supply chain to KFC.”
“With the help of our partner QSL, we are committed to step by step improvements to allow KFC to re-open its stores over the coming days,” DHL said in a statement.
QSL is a food logistics provider that has been working with KFC since 2011. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The UK is KFC’s largest market in Europe, and one of its top five globally.
Franchisees operate 95% of KFC’s outlets in the country. The company said Monday that it would pay its staff as normal, and it was encouraging franchisees to do the same.
KFC did not say whether it would compensate its franchisee operators for lost business.
KFC fans have used social media to complain and express their amusement this week over a chicken restaurant running out of its signature product.
