At 50, KFC — operated by Restaurants of Jamaica — is still strong, vibrant, relevant, and a role model in business sustainability and growth.

Established on June 18, 1975, at a time when few women led macro-businesses locally, co-founder and trailblazer Lorna Myers — supported by her husband Anthony — negotiated with nerves of steel, resilience and confidence a ‘big deal’ with Hueblein International to open a KFC restaurant in Jamaica. Today, there are 42 restaurants across the island.

The idea of operating a KFC franchise locally was born from the global brand’s intended expansion into the Caribbean. At that time, there were four Tops restaurants in Kingston selling KFC products, but that did not deter the Myerses. Eventually, Restaurants of Jamaica bought the Tops restaurants, refurbished the stores, and operated them under the KFC brand. Today, the famous Cross Roads KFC location is one of the original Tops restaurants.

The first start-up KFC restaurant was on 170 Old Hope Road, Kingston — housed in a refurbished residential building — which offered the island’s first drive-thru eatery. Lorna had to learn the franchise holder’s techniques of seasoning and preparing each menu item in keeping with the operational blueprint which had to be followed diligently. With three young children at the time, Anthony and Lorna Myers worked long hours to perfect the taste and presentation of the various menu options, while teaching their team the importance of delivering at the highest standards to safeguard the integrity of the local brand. Today, the founding values remain and the 2,500 employees are mandated to go through a series of sessions at the Restaurants of Jamaica’s training and support centre to prepare them for a career in Jamaica’s leading quick-service restaurant.

From the beginning, the operators of KFC were determined to offer the best products at the most affordable prices, which increased the number of customers year-over-year and built generational loyalty. In turn, the brand supported initiatives at the community level, as well as programmes in education, music, sports, and child care valued at millions of dollars each year, in keeping with its corporate social responsibility.

Among the innovative customer engagement projects was the CARIBLA award-winning ‘Scratch and Win’ marketing promotion, which was a major success and significantly boosted sales for many years. The marketing and innovative initiatives by KFC Jamaica have also led to many award-winning achievements such as being the two-time winner of the ‘Market of The Year’ award for top sales and transactions regionally from among franchisees in 30-plus Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Succession planning began during son Mark Myers’ school days when he would spend his holidays at the KFC restaurants learning the operations. With the passing of his father in 1990, Mark entered the management level of the company, a role he still plays today. He was later joined in the business by sisters Michelle Myers-Mayne, director, and Tina Myers-Matalon, in charge of marketing. Now retired from active daily duties, Lorna acts as chairman of Restaurants of Jamaica, where her vision is still instrumental in the growth and development of the brand.

For decades the Mark Myers-led second-generation siblings, together with the support of their dedicated employees, have realised remarkable success by significantly expanding the business and maintaining its dominance in the marketplace.

As the brand continues to grow, the latest highly anticipated store is set to open in St Thomas, thereby establishing at least one quick-service restaurant in each of the 14 parishes. The most outstanding to-date — and the one which owns pride of place — is the Howard Cooke Boulevard restaurant, Montego Bay, which in 2000 was ranked by the franchise holder as the first to be named the highest value KFC Restaurant in the world.

With its special mixture of signature KFC flavours comprising its famous 11 herbs and spices, along with blends of flavours unique only to the Jamaican recipes like the ever-popular barbecue, locals seek out the brand daily for their favourite chicken. The brand has also become the most requested food item from Jamaica for islanders who live in the diaspora and grew up on the popular chicken for generations. And KFC is forever indebted to our loyal team and customers for their support over the past 50 years.

The Restaurants of Jamaica pledges to continue to serve Jamaica at the highest standards for many more years to come.

Ladies and Gentleman, The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented this evening to Restaurants of Jamaica. And, Yes! It’s a BIG DEAL!