KFC partners with Huawei to release its limited edition smartphone in China

KFC China has introduced autonomous chicken-dispensing robots around Shanghai, reported CNET.

The truck is designed in a way that it doesn’t need anyone to operate. Customers who want to place order can touch on the screen, scan the QR code and make the payment.

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Once the payment is done, the door of the truck will open and customers can collect their placed order.

A Twitter user outside of Shanghai captured images of the KFC China chicken carts where customers place orders on a touchscreen, pay via a QR code scanned on their phones and then retrieve their choices from a tiny side window.

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The Drive website said the car-o-chicken was created by Beijing-based, Neolix, whose autonomous food pods can circulate on city streets bringing chicken to the masses as they pass. The vehicles use 5G cellular broadband connections and can travel 62 miles on a charge at speeds as high as 31 miles per hour. Rather than recharging the pods, their batteries are just swapped out in less than a minute and they're back on the road hawking fried birds, added QSRWeb.

KFC is planning to sell plant-based fried chicken for the first time in China over a limited time period.

The nuggets will be supplied by Cargill Ltd and will be sold at only three outlets in China in Shanghai and the southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen between April 28-30, shared KFC on its official Weibo account.

Customers who would like to try a bite must purchase a pre-sale coupon, the QSR chain mentioned.

One serving comprises of five chicken pieces and will be sold for 1.99 yuan.

The move comes amid growing global interest in China's meat substitute industry, which has been identified by both US players Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat as a key target market.

The coronavirus outbreak is also threatening China's poultry production.

KFC started offering plant-based fried chicken supplied by Beyond Meat in the United States at one of its Atlanta outlets. The two companies said in January that they would expand that tie-up to several KFC stores in Tennessee and North Carolina.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has launched its first artificial intelligence-enabled store in the Chinese capital city and plans to further expand its layout of smart restaurants, creating more innovative and interesting dining experiences for customers.

With the cooperation of Baidu Inc, China's largest search engine, KFC started its first smart restaurant in the Financial Street area in Beijing.

At the store, customers are able to take pictures with a machine, which will recognise the diner's face, sex, age, mood and other features, then help to recommend suitable food and set meals and complete the ordering process.

Wu Zhongqin, deputy director of the Institute of Deep Learning of Baidu Inc, which helped to develop the technology said, "If the consumer visits the store again and takes a picture with the machine, it will be able to recognise his or her face and show the previous purchase history, remember the customer's dining habits, and help to place an order faster."

With another machine with an augmented reality, or AR function, customers are able to interact with the machine, change facial expressions by shaking their heads in front of the machine, take photos, and save them to their phones.

In April, KFC, an affiliate of Yum China Holdings Inc, started its first Chinese smart restaurant in Shanghai.

The outlet is equipped with intelligent robot ordering, debuting the use of artificial intelligence in chain restaurants, state-run China Daily reported.

Zhao Li, general manager of Beijing KFC, said smart restaurants are not only about the cool hardware, but more about providing convenience to consumers.

"Our innovations make use of the cutting-edge technologies and they will help to attract more young consumers who prefer fashionable new things. The digitalisation of the restaurant will also help to provide faster and easier services," she said.

"We believe that the restaurant dining experiences must continue to upgrade. With 5,000 stores in China, we plan to expand such services nationwide soon, to adapt to the digital age and enable more consumers to experience enjoyable ordering experiences."

KFC, one of the largest burger chain in the world has started selling pink burgers in China in order to boost the sale.

The burger chain is continously facing a hit in sales from the last three years in the country.

The sandwich is called the "rose cheese chicken leg roasted burger" and it features pink buns, roasted chicken, cheese, mayonnaise, tomato and lettuce.

Also, the chain is using rose petals around the burgers to promote it online nad offline.

The Rose cheese chicken burger debuted alongside a new black burger which is called the "black diamond bacon spicy chicken leg burger."

KFC is launching its colored burgers subsequent Burger King's release of red and black burgers in Japan.

In July, Burger King launched the Red Samurai Chicken burgers with bright red buns, red cheese and red hot sauce made from miso and hot peppers. Recently, the chain also released a new all-black sandwich in Japan, following its first black burger last September.

So, KFC has been trying to revitalize its sales in China, which has fall by 10 percent in the recent quarter. The chain has been plagued by food safety scandals and stiffer competition from Western brands like Starbucks and McDonald's, which are expanding in China.

Last year, one of the KFC's suppliers was shut down after a news report showed that the factory workers were using expired meat.