US – Yum! Brands Inc has KFC Asia managing director, Mr. Sabir Sami as global division chief executive officer of KFC effective January 1, 2022.  

KFC division is Yum’s largest business. It added nearly US$4 billion in system sales from digital channels last year to grow the KFC digital business to about US$10 billion in system sales in 2020 

Sami will succeed Tony Lowings who is stepping down as chief executive at the end of this year. He will report to Yum! chief executive officer David Gibbs. 

Yum! Brands said that Sami will, in his new role, be tasked with the driving the restaurant chain’s global brand strategy and performance. 

He is expected to perform well in the role as his current division KFC Asia has been a high-growth region representing 17 markets and comprising over 15% of all KFC division restaurants. 

 India, in particular, has been performing exceptionally well, reporting an over two-fold jump in system sales of KFC and Pizza Hut for the second quarter ended June 2021. 

KFC India also reported 221% system sales growth for India and area countries and had given a guidance of being ‘cautiously optimistic’ for the second half of 2021.  

The Indian business represents less than 1% of global system sales for KFC and Pizza Hut but is one of the fastest-growing business regions for the company.  

With a wealth of experience spanning over two decades in a number of companies including Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Reckitt Benckiser, Sam is well poised to take on the new role at KFC which is Yum!’s largest brand with a footprint of more than 25,000 restaurants. 

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