Without tomatoes – still finger-lickin’ good?

KENTUCKY Fried Chicken (KFC) fans who normally opt for dishes containing tomatoes and lettuce will not be licking their fingers for at least another week.
This came after the fast-food franchise gave its tomato and lettuce supplier, Fruit & Veg City, the boot recently.

Rudi Niemand, KFC’s regional operational manager, on Thursday said Fruit & Veg did not make the cut after a recent audit on safety and health standards. ‘Our supplier goes through an audit process by our company in Johannesburg and they need to pass that audit.’The reason for the audit is to improve the quality of food sold by KFC, Niemand said.He said customers would have to wait about another week until tomatoes and lettuce will arrive from South Africa.Niemand admitted that some customers are up in arms about their tomato- and lettuce-free meals. ‘We do receive complaints from our customers. It is definitely not good [for business] or for the customer perception.’Another KFC manager said: ‘Now it’s a matter of logistics. Arrangements have been made to get it from South Africa. It could take up to two weeks.’Louis Peens of Fruit & Veg on Thursday said it was not ‘completely true’ that they had failed the audit. ‘They supplied us with new standards and stuff and we won’t deliver it like that.’According to him, KFC wanted them to cut and process the tomatoes and lettuce in a specific way. As they do not have the infrastructure do comply with those requirements, it was decided to step out of the deal, Peens said. ‘Obviously, all business is good and we never say no for anything, but we would first need to invest in infrastructure before we can do that.’Lauren Turnbull of KFC’s head office in Johannesburg on enquiry said: ‘KFC can confirm that tomato and lettuce have been withdrawn from its products in Namibia. This follows failure by its supplier in Namibia to sign the required commercial agreements. KFC’s supply chain policies mandate strict adherence to such processes in order to maintain its very high levels of food safety.’She added: ‘KFC is now reviewing new supplier arrangements and hopes to resolve this as soon as possible.’