Kentucky Fried Mongolian Hot Pot, Anyone?

Popcorn chicken in spicy soup? Beans in a sesame and garlic sauce? Err, ‘Zinger’ tofu? Has the whole word gone crazy? Yes, actually. By next week, Little Sheep, the hot pot chain with 458 restaurants in China and a scattering in the US, will be a “93.2% wholly owned unit of US-based Yum! Brands,” the Louisville Kentucky based owners of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. The takeover deal, ongoing for some time and valued at around USD 580 million, apparently represents the first time a US company has purchased a Chinese food brand.

Yum! currently operates around 3,500 KFC and over 500 Pizza Huts in China, so it’s no stranger to the local market. As for what it means for Little Sheep, we can only guess, but I reckon the delivery service will need careful thought. Transporting a bubbling cauldron of soup on the back of a moped is just asking for trouble. Then again, maybe Little Sheep can re-brand a bunch of KFC family buckets for the job.

I’m no big fan of fast food giants, but I suppose they have certain operational standards when it comes to hygiene and the like, which probably isn’t a bad thing. And compared to other countries, China has a remarkably low percentage of its total restaurant spend in chain restaurants, so with such headroom, we can expect to see more of this in the future. Boo.