KFC staff were caught on camera appearing to smuggle food in through the backdoor of a restaurant amid the fast food chain’s chicken shortage that has left two-thirds of its stores closed.
A video captured by a customer shows two men in KFC uniforms carrying crates of black bags out of a Volvo and through the backdoors of a restaurant in Erith, south London.
Danny Mercer, who filmed the clip, claims he was told to ‘f*** off’ by employees when they saw him capturing the delivery on camera.
Mr Mercer says he thinks workers at the fastfood chain tried to implement a back up plan when the chicken shop was running low on supplies.
He told Kent Live: ‘I got KFC in Erith shut down because I caught them on video smuggling raw chicken into the back of the restaurant out of the back of a car in black bags and boxes and not refrigerated.
‘Turns out there has been a delivery problem nationwide for all KFC restaurants.
‘But I guess the manager of KFC in Erith took it into his own hands to get chicken.’
He added that the staff had brought in ‘about six black bags from the boot’ that were ‘bulging and gloopy shaped’ before he started filming, and that he will ‘never eat KFC again’.
Mr Mercer said customers were ‘lining up for the drive thru’ when the video was taken but it branch closed later in the afternoon, and pinned a notice to its door that read: ‘We deliver our chicken fresh into our restaurant but we’ve had a few hiccups with the delivery toady.
‘We wouldn’t want to open without offering our full menu but we’ll be back at the fryers as soon as we can!’
KFC staff were caught on camera appearing to smuggle food in through the backdoor amid the fast food restaurant’s chicken shortage that has left two thirds of its stores closed
A video captured by a customer shows two men in KFC uniforms carrying crates of black bags out of a Volvo and through the backdoors of a restaurant in Erith, south London
Danny Mercer, who filmed the clip, claims he was told to ‘f*** off’ by employees when they saw him capturing the delivery on camera
It’s not clear what the men are carrying in the clip, but Mr Mercer says from behind the camera ‘They’re smuggling chickens in their Volvo. That’s health and safety down the drain isn’t it mate?’
KFC told MailOnline it was investigating the issue and was aware of the video.
A spokesman added: ‘We’ve closed several of our restaurants because we won’t compromise the quality of our food, and it also goes without saying that food safety remains our top priority.
‘When it comes to the safe handling and transport of food, we have strict policies in place, so we’re investigating this urgently and will take any necessary steps.’
Today, the fried chicken chain released an updated list of 296 outlets that were still open.
It means that about two thirds of its near 900 stores were suffering from the shortage.
KFC gave no indication of when operations would be back to normal but encouraged diners to check its website in order to find the nearest open restaurant.
Only 296 of KFC’s near 900 stores remain open among a supply shortage
KFC gave no indication of when operations would be back to normal but encouraged diners to check its website in order to find the nearest open restaurant
‘We’re updating this as regularly as we can, and our teams are working around the cluck to get the rest back up and running as soon as possible’, KFC UK & Ireland said in its latest tweet.
The closures were the result of delayed chicken deliveries by DHL, which announced in November that it had been appointed alongside QSL to manage the supply and distribution of food products and packaging for more than 850 KFC restaurants throughout the UK.
‘Due to operational issues a number of deliveries in recent days have been incomplete or delayed,’ DHL said in a statement.
‘We are working with KFC and our partners to rectify the situation as a priority and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.’
KFC was previously a client of Bidvest Logistics.
The closures were the result of delayed chicken deliveries by DHL, which announced in November that it had been appointed to manage supply and distribution for the chain
The chicken chain detailed the problems in an earlier statement, which said: ‘We’ve brought a new delivery partner onboard, but they’ve had a couple of teething problems – getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country is pretty complex!’
‘We won’t compromise on quality, so no deliveries has meant some of our restaurants are closed and others are operating a limited menu, or shortened hours,’ the company added.
‘We know that this might have inconvenienced some of you over the last few days, and disappointed you when you wanted your fried chicken fix – we’re really sorry about that.’
‘Is this a sign of the apocalypse?’ Twitter users share their hilarious overreactions to KFC running out of chicken in two-thirds of UK stores
Most people would recognise that the arrival of the four horsemen of the apocalypse – Death, Famine, War, and Conquest – marks the beginning of the end of days.
But for some Twitter users, KFC running out of chicken in two-thirds of its stores across the nation is the clearest sign yet that the end of the world is coming.
After 600 out of 900 stores were closed today, chicken-hungry individuals already suffering from withdrawal symptoms took to Twitter to post hilarious memes.
Using the hashtag #KFCCrisis, users mocked the overreaction of Brits when they couldn’t get their favourite fast food.
This Twitter user thought KFC running out of chicken was ‘a sign of the apocalypse’, and expected to see the Four Horseman any day now – and not the Four Horsemen of wrestling
Another individual tweeted a reaction gif with the caption: ‘How can you be out of the one thing you are known for selling?!?’
This user tweeted a still from the comedy Chicken Run, a film about the exploits of a group of chickens as they attempt to escape from a farm, with the caption ‘Frrrrreeeeedom!!!’
Others mocked the overreaction of Brits who couldn’t get their favourite fast food for seemingly forgetting they could buy their own chicken and cook it themselves
Aurie Styla tweeted: ‘So wait… KFC is STILL OUT OF CHICKEN?!? Their connect ain’t acting right!!! How can you be out of the one thing you are known for selling?!?’
Another individual tweeted a still from the movie Chicken Run, a comedy film about the exploits of a group of chickens as they attempt to escape from a farm, with the caption ‘Frrrrreeeeedom!!!’.
For many, the ‘crisis’ was all they could think about today.
One individual wrote: ‘Never mind Brexit. #KFCCrisis is the most important issue in the country at the moment. The Colonel would be spinning in his grave (like a rotisserie chicken).’
McDonald’s mascot Ronald McDonald was accused of being the one who orchestrated the chicken disaster
The problems of Brexit seemed worlds away for this user who said the KFC colonel would be spinning in his grave like a chicken if he knew about the disaster
Taking the grandkids to McDonald’s instead of KFC just wasn’t the same for this user who was left crying
Others expected people to start selling off buckets of chicken for extortionate prices as supplies plummeted.
One Twitter user jokingly wrote: ‘Just bid £159.00 for a 10 piece Bargain Bucket for sale on eBay.’
The KFC UK and Ireland Twitter account tweeted yesterday explaining why stores were closed, saying: ‘We’ve brought a new delivery partner onboard, but they’ve had a couple of teething problems – getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country is pretty complex!
One user posted a photo of Sam Allardyce from the 2016 Daily Telegraph investigation where he was filmed giving advice on getting around FA rules on player third party ownership, saying ‘I can get you a boneless banquet for one, but it’s gonna cost ya’
Another account from a user pretending to be Jesus Christ said they were trying to ‘fix’ America before they would fix the chicken crisis
As supplies plummet one user jokingly said they were bidding on a 10-piece bargain bucket on eBay for the extortionate price of £159
‘We won’t compromise on quality, so no deliveries has meant some of our restaurants are closed, and others are operating a limited menu, or shortened hours.
‘We know that this might have inconvenienced some of you over the last few days, and disappointed you when you wanted your fried chicken fix – we’re really sorry about that.’
The fried chicken chain have even set up a page on their website with an updated list of stores that remain open across the UK here, saying: ‘The colonel is working on it…’
Heart radio North East described the crisis as the ‘great KFC drought of 2018’ as they shared a gif saying: ‘I just want fried chicken’
Capital FM in Birmingham had a similar overreaction, posting a gif of a David Cross sobbing uncontrollably in the show Arrested Development