fast food was not common in japan when kentucky fried chicken decided to enter the market.
the company saw a promising business opportunity and found ways to overcome potential obstacles.
japan is a rich, populous country of some 120 million, 90 percent of whom consider themselves middle class. It is thus the second largest consumer economy in the world, outranked only by the united states itself. The japanese are well disposed toward U.S. citizens and their products; western models and celebrities, for example, appear frequently in Japanese advertising..
Japan is restaurant capital of the world, with one eating establishment for every eighty-one people. In recent years, with income rising and leisure time more plentiful, the industry has boomed. Fast food in particular has proved inordinately popular, growing by a factor of six in the last en years ...
kentucky fired Chicken began it Japanese operation with two test operations, one at expo in Osaka, the other in a Tokyo department store. The company has a good product to offer: chicken is popular in Japan anyway, and KFC's chicken tasted a little like yakitori, the broiled chicken on a stick that is one of Japan most popular dishes. Still, the experiments were successful beyond all expectations. The expo outlet broke records. Sales there reached $100,000 a month.
shortly thereafter KFC set up a fifty-fifty joint venture with mitsubishi, the giant Japanese Mitsubishi could guide KFC through the japanese bureaucracy, making sure it complied with applicable laws and followed appropriate customs. In addition, a year before, Mitsubishi had bought heavily into the chicken feed and farm business. Now, it gave KFC access to well-developed sources of supply. And it had an interest of its won. It could sell its chickens to KFC, which would be only too delighted to have a reliable supply.