The power of Yum!: One event, nearly 1,000 attendees, billions of possibilities

Almost all of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees – 98% of nearly 61,000 locations, to be exact. And over 600 of those franchisees gathered in Sydney, Australia, in April for parent company Yum! Brands’ Global Franchise Convention (GFC), traveling as far as 10,500-plus miles to get there. For four days these franchisees, hailing from every continent but Antarctica, shared knowledge and listened to Yum! and its brands’ leadership outline their plans to continue growing iconic restaurant brands globally.

“This four-day event is two years in the making,” Yum! CEO David Gibbs said. “As the world’s largest restaurant company, our scale is unmatched. No one can do what we do, gathering committed, capable and capitalized partners across the globe to share a vision in building the world’s most loved, trusted and connected restaurant brands.”

Here’s what to expect from KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Habit Burger & Grill and Yum! Brands in 2025 and beyond.

The Power of One

Throughout the four days, executives threw out several figures to illustrate Yum!’s size:

• Yum! purchases 1.7 billion kilograms of poultry each year.
• It spends $1.4 billion on dairy products annually, but that’s less than 10% of the company’s overall spend.
• The company employs over 2,000 Digital & Technology employees, and KFC alone creates 60,000 new jobs every year.

Perhaps the most impressive number was the fact that Yum! spends billions in support of franchisees. This investment comes in the form of several initiatives, including the Yum! Franchise Office, which works to partner with the brands and franchisees across the globe to strengthen Yum!’s franchising foundation – from navigating legal contracts and benchmarking financial success – to the complex issues.

Also part of that spend is Byte by Yum!, a comprehensive collection of proprietary Software as a Service, AI-driven products, which simplifies both operations and the customer experience. Byte is a platform built by operators, for operators, and its support staff works as one cross-functional team to ensure that restaurant teams and engineers collaborate in real time to ensure the best experience for everyone. Since Yum! has developed and owns its own tech stack, the benefits to its franchisees are exponential. As Byte by Yum! President Joe Park said at GFC, “If you have a great idea, put it into Byte, and we’ll roll it out to everyone.”

This collaborative spirit speaks to the power of one Yum!. Since it is the world’s largest restaurant company, its purchasing power for poultry, dairy and other goods is unparalleled, securing the best prices for its partners. Innovation, whether that takes the form of technology, marketing or new menu items, is also shared across all four brands. It’s the reason Yum!’s newest brand, Habit Burger & Grill, has been able to scale so quickly according to CEO Shannon Hennessy, making her new mantra “more magic, more margin.”

Hospitality, Powered by Byte

In February, Yum! announced Byte by Yum!, and at GFC, franchisees got a close-up look. Byte by Yum! President Joe Park identified a clear need for the platform as many restaurant general managers were making decisions based on their experience and intuition. While mainly good, the time it took to make those decisions, he said, could’ve been used to create a better experience for team members and customers.

This echoes what Yum! Chief Marketing Officer Ken Muench said, “The more the world becomes digital, the more we’re going to crave human contact.” It’s also what KFC Global Chief Digital & Technology Officer Judd Knight called “tech-powered hospitality,” automating the mundane so team members can spark joy.

There are Byte by Yum! products in over 25,000 restaurants globally. In the U.S., Yum!'s brands are powered by multiple Byte products, with Byte's digital ordering platform processing more than 300 million transactions annually. 

When Pizza Hut U.S. experienced its busiest day in its history during the NFL’s Big Game, there were no outages thanks to Byte by Yum! Commerce, and this success and these learnings are being shared amongst all four brands, with Taco Bell benefiting from Pizza Hut’s experience with Byte.

“During Taco Bell’s Taco Tuesday promotional launch, we were breaking global Yum! records,” said Yum! Chief Technology Officer Matthew McDole. “I can confidently say that Byte by Yum! powers Taco Tuesday.”

Go Bold or Go Home

While Yum! was founded in 1997, its brands have a longer history, and as Gibbs pointed out, their history is marked by innovation – like, when KFC invented the bucket, evolving quick-service restaurants from a single-use occasion to a group one and when Taco Bell created the phrase “value menu.” Likewise, Pizza Hut is credited with being the first item ordered on the internet in 1994.

That ingenuity is still manifesting today with Taco Bell’s Live Mas Café, Pizza Hut’s latest restaurant design in the U.S. and Yum!’s newest concept Saucy by KFC, which brings together 11 flavored sauces paired with boneless tenders seasoned with the brand’s signature 11 herbs and spices.

KFC has also launched a new line of beverages in the U.K. and Australia called KWENCH by KFC. These lemonades, refreshers, iced coffees and milkshakes are created by new equipment that take up minimal space in the restaurants, are easy to execute for the team members and feature premium textures and tastes for customers looking to treat themselves.

KFC is also transforming with bold marketing as research has shown today’s Gen Z and Alpha consumers have only a 1.3-second attention span before they scroll to the next thing on their smartphones. In Spain, the brand launched a campaign to stand out with the modern consumer by partnering with Netflix’s “Squid Game,” inserting the brand into challenges and creating a “Squid Game” burger that led to the market’s biggest sales day ever. In the U.K., KFC launched The Wing, a social content creation center run by Zoomers that has reached 1 million users in TikTok alone, proving that a legacy brand can attract younger audiences.

The Future Is Connection

By the end of the conference, franchisees had experienced the power of the world’s largest restaurant company and left inspired by Byte by Yum!’s proprietary technology, Yum!’s commitment to elevating both the team member and customer experience and the bold flavors they tasted. Everything was connected and made possible through the power of one Yum!, whose scale can unlock a world of possibilities and ideas, when paired with its franchisees.

“Our franchisees are valued thought partners,” said Yum! Head of Franchising Mike Nilevsky. “They’re risk takers and growth makers who are building our brands, interacting with customers and partnering with us to take bold actions. Together, we’re one Yum!.”