Abacus | Japanese Christmas means dashing though the snow to KFC
- Japan’s convenience stores and fast food chains are competing for consumers’ 2021 Christmas taste buds amid a feeding frenzy for fried chicken
- KFCs in the country sell much more than just fried chicken and have become a yuletide favourite
FINGER LICKIN’ GOOD
I dropped a line to a friend of mine, Takamoto-san, a delightful housewife living on the outskirts of Tokyo, who in her former life worked as a financial translator in the hedge fund world. As convenience stores have flagged the possibility of a chicken shortage this Christmas season, I was teasing her by suggesting she should keep a few chickens in the yard.
“I enjoy the quiet life,” she replied, “though no chickens in my garden as I keep three cats” – cats don’t fry up quite the same though, do they. “I’ll have to keep watching Famima until Xmas. Pls don’t eat up all the Famichiki in Tokyo!” I’ll try Mrs. T, though it’s remarkably good.
Walk into any 7-Eleven, Lawson, Famima, or Ministop, and you are greeted with a vast array of grilled, fried, breaded and battered chicken delights at the till, which you consume from a carefully designed greaseproof paper bag that, with a sharp tug, will split in half. Everyone is tucking in on the way home.
However, in November warnings started to appear in some Japanese convenience stores that due to supply chain problems and a domestic outbreak of bird flu, the availability of cooked chicken may dwindle.
