California Fried Chicken (CFC) is an Indonesian fast food restaurant chain principally serving

fried chicken Fried chicken, also called Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or ...

. Its primary competitors are

KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

, A&W, and Texas Chicken, and as of March 2019, it runs 269 locations across Indonesia.

History

The chain was established in 1983 in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

as a franchise of the American-based Pioneer Take Out,Link
via

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. has an American name and is now entirely Indonesian owned. The same group supplies the chain, the Sierad Group, which also supplies chicken to

Wendy's Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...

and

. Its mascot was Calfred, mainly used in the 1990s. It is the main PT Pioneerindo Gourmet International Tbk (previously known as PT Putra Sejahtera Pioneerindo until 2001 and was owned by Putra Surya Perkasa group) brand, which was listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange in 1994. The firm also runs Sapo Oriental and Cal Donat outlets in Jakarta and employs 1,400 people. Studies conducted by the ''

Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English language, English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Bina Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four ...

'' reveal that it is the fifth most popular fast food chain in Indonesia after Restoran Sederhana, KFC,

, and

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut, LLC is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by brothers Dan and Frank Carney. The chain, headquartered in Plano, Texas, operates 19,866 restaurants worldw ...

. As the Westernization of Indonesia took off in the 1990s, California Fried Chicken took advantage of the growth of American-style malls in the country, reaching 90 locations by 1998. It is now common to see branches of the chain in malls or near supermarkets, often in direct competition with neighboring branches of the global brands of the above-mentioned and

Dunkin' Donuts DD IP Holder LLC, doing business as Dunkin', and originally Dunkin' Donuts, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 19 ...

. According to an article in '' Adweek'', California Fried Chicken was founded by three Indonesians who wanted to introduce the taste of Pioneer Chicken to their homeland that they had enjoyed during their stay in California while attending the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' mentioned that California Fried Chicken had stores in China during the 1990s. However, these stores do not appear to currently exist. In 2008, the firm opened new outlets in

Salatiga Salatiga () is a Cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of and had a population of 192,322 at the 2020 Indonesian census, 2020 Census;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as at m ...

and

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

, marketed in a way that meets local demands by serving traditional Indonesian food staples of fried noodles and rice with chicken.

Logo

The logo and marketing of California Fried Chicken is very similar to that of a

covered wagon A covered wagon, also called a prairie wagon, whitetop, or prairie schooner, is a horse-drawn or ox-drawn wagon used for passengers or freight hauling. It has a canvas, tarpaulin, or waterproof sheet which is stretched over removable wooden ...

. Like the KFC logo, CFC uses red and white with the letters CFC and features a cartoon Old Western white and blue wagon on a yellow circular background. Its advertising slogan was "Bukan Cuma Ayam", a translation of "Not Just Chicken" in the

Indonesian language Indonesian (; ) is the official language, official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standard language, standardized variety (linguistics), variety of Malay language, Malay, an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language that has ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Establishments serving chicken Fast-food chains of Indonesia Fast-food poultry restaurants Restaurants established in 1983 Indonesian brands Indonesian companies established in 1983

History

Logo

See also

References

External links