Recipe For Life

While Nikki Lawson Loves Her KFC, She Has No Clue About Its Secret Herbs And Spices. Instead, She’s Focusing On A Greater Recipe For Success, Inspiring Australian Youth To Reach Their Goals.

- Wendy Kay

Surely, after spending nearly a decade scaling the corporate ladder to become the Managing Director of KFC South Pacific (SOPAC), it’s only fair that you’re let in on a few company secrets. After all, you’ve been charged with leading 750 restaurants, 36,000 people and turning over A$2.5 billion a year.

So, what exactly are those famous 11 secret herbs and spices?

Nikki Lawson laughs. “I’m telling you I’m nowhere close! I know the guy at the top of the organisational chart and he doesn’t know the recipe either. There are two food technologists who know and it’s a closely guarded secret between them.”

Fair enough. Well, not really – one could argue the point all day, but for Nikki who, it must be said, is a brazen fan of KFC’s unique flavour, the company’s culture is much more important than its obsession to keep a secret.

“It’s what lured me to them 19 years ago,” she says. “We’re a big brand with a big budget and, while we’ve still got to work within our financial parameters, there’s enough scope to do other really chunky stuffand make a real difference to the things you believe in.”

Those ‘things’ include inspiring Australian youth with the confidence to work towards personal and career goals, preparing them for the future, whether they stay with the company or not. A chat with Nikki makes it abundantly clear that hers is a company that cares as much, if not more, about its people as it does about serving ‘finger lickin’ good’ chicken.

KFC is owned internationally by Yum! Brands, as are Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. In Australia, most KFC restaurants are franchises, with the majority run by Collins Foods.

Nikki’s patch includes KFC restaurants in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands, where options are still being explored.