KFC Australia's Tony Lowings on the year ahead, online ordering and a lot more

In this exclusive interview we find out from KFC MD Tony Lowings what's driving their growth and what some of their future plans are.

QSR Media: What's new at KFC Australia?

Tony: We continue our deep commitment to supporting Australians through our fresh, great-tasting food and contribution to local communities.

As part of our community work, we’ve recently finished our sixth year supporting World Hunger Relief - Yum Restaurants’ global fundraising initiative (UN World Food Program). This year our restaurants raised more than $500,000 for under-nourished children and their families in South-East Asia – this is a great initiative which enables our staff and customers to support a great cause. I’m very proud of all employees for their efforts.

Working in partnership with Closed Loop, KFC Australia has introduced a Closed Loop Recycling Program (CLRP) - the first national “Public Place Recycling Program” of its kind in the quick service restaurant Industry. By leading this initiative, KFC has overcome many of the hurdles for the entire industry, setting the standard for recycling and waste management.

In May 2012 KFC Australia introduced canola oil to cook our freshly prepared chicken, sourced from Australian farmers. The switch from responsibly-sourced palm oil represented our desire to invest in the local economy - by supporting the 10,000 Australian farmers who grow canola.

In August 2012 we launched a wellness pilot to increase Restaurant General Managers (RGMs) knowledge on nutrition, helping them to achieve their desired state of health and wellbeing. The RGMs have had the opportunity to participate in a range of wellness activities such as health checks, massages, fitness training and one-on-one health coaching.

QSR Media: Last time we spoke KFC Australia was finding growth in the snack segment and drive-through, is this still the focus?

Tony: Our focus is on ensuring our brand remains relevant to our consumers. From a product perspective, this means delivering innovation and inspiring “so good” moments for our customers’ different food occasions. Examples from this year include our launch of Sweet Sesame Crunch chicken and an engagement program with our Facebook fans which saw us re-introduce The Double for a few days – being the winning product as voted by our 569,000 fans.

In 2013, we will also be innovating in the customer service and online ordering area.

QSR Media: What are your customers asking for?

Tony: Consumers expect businesses to give back to the communities in which they operate and to support causes which resonate with their own beliefs. As an agile business, we evolve to meet the changing needs of our customers.

For example, we’ve responded by providing transparent information to help them make informed choices about the food they eat. In February 2012 we made the decision to display kilojoule information on our menus boards nationwide, even though this is only required by legislation in New South Wales. We also have nutritional information available for all our core products on pack, on in store brochures and on our website.

We were also the first QSR to completely remove toys from our kids meals to help reduce pester power and to show our commitment to the Australian Quick Service Restaurant Industry Initiative for Responsible Advertising and Marketing to Children – of which we have been a member since its inception in 2009.

At heart, we are a food business, and our customers will always expect that that we provide great tasting products which are prepared fresh in store – this means we will continue to spend thousands of hours developing new products and investing in innovation.

QSR Media:  Your switch to Canola Oil, tell us a bit more about this?

Tony: KFC Australia is proud of our switch to high oleic canola oil. The decision represents our ongoing investment in Australian farmers as well as our commitment to providing our customers with freshly cooked, great-tasting food, sourced from trusted suppliers.

KFC has built its reputation on great tasting chicken – freshly prepared by our highly trained cooks in every store, cooked with a unique recipe, and in a particular manner. We do not make changes to our cooking methods lightly and the move to canola represented a significant commitment on our behalf. KFC undertook extensive trials over a number of years, to ensure we were confident we could deliver the same great fresh taste people know and love.

QSR Media: What are some of your goals for the next 12 months?

Tony: Our goal is to continue to build a strong brand and ensure that it remains relevant to consumers and our people. We do this is by focusing on food, environment, community and people.

For our people (our employees), we will continue to invest in training and development and rewarding and recognising employees who embody the DNA of the KFC brand. Over the next 12 months, for example, we are committed to a significant investment in staff training and development, and have recently launched the “Taking People With You” program – which is based on the best-selling book by our Chairman, David Novak. This is a tremendously practical, but powerful program which reflects the leadership style and principles that we in KFC espouse.

With respect to environment and as part of our commitment to the National Packaging Covenant objectives, we are undertaking a review of all core KFC packaging stock and utilising the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines. We are also looking to increase the recycled content of these items where practical. By 2015 a “buy recycled policy” will be mandated across all relevant Yum Restaurants’ procurement strategies. Our partnership with Closed Loop, has meant that KFC is the first QSR in Australia to implement public place recycling

Within our food pillar, we are continuing to find better ways to provide our customers with information needed to make informed choices about the food they eat – something we have spearheaded within the QSR industry. Over the next 12 months, we will focus on other initiatives which cover our wider nutrition profile.

Community continues to be a major focus for our business. Nationally, we support World Hunger Relief, Yum Restaurants’ global fundraising initiative for the UN World Food Programme. At a grassroots level, our restaurant managers and franchisees work with the local communities in which they operate to provide assistance through various programs, such as The Reach Foundation and White Lion.

QSR Media: What do you see as some of the "challenges" the industry is facing?

Tony: We believe customer service will be an area of focus for our industry and others moving forward. Our customer’s expectations, with regard to service, are increasing and as a business that puts customers first, we will be working to ensure their needs are met. Our internal employee service delivery promise is centred around our CHAMPS principles: C = Cleanliness (restaurants) H = Hospitable (employees) A = Accurate (orders) M = Maintained (facilities) P = Product (quality) S = Speed (of service). By ensuring our Team Members are measured on these principles, we can help drive excellent customer service.

Reward and recognition for our people is a key component in helping us drive great customer service – one example of our formal recognition is the “Champions Club”, which annually awards the top 5% of Restaurant General Managers with a fully-paid trip for them and their partner to an exotic holiday destination.

Consumer palates are evolving and taste preferences are becoming more sophisticated. KFC has responded to the challenge with innovative products – for example, over the past 12 months, the research and development team at KFC has been developing modern, flavoursome food, delivered fast to meet evolving customer tastes – like our recent Sweet Sesame Crunch chicken (a modern twist on an old favourite) and our Crispy Rods (mouth-watering crispy chicken on a skewer).

QSR Media: Online ordering, what is KFC doing in this space and what kind of results are you getting?

Tony: KFC has recently completed phase 1 of an online ordering trial with one of our franchisees in northern Queensland. The trial involved six restaurants and allowed users to order from a smartphone for either in-store pick up or collection at the drive-through. So far the results we have seen have been positive.