Zurich - KFC Opens at the Airport

Opening Day at the Airport

In Sahl Hasheesh, the opening of a local supermarket was a major event for me. Here in Zurich, it’s the opening of a KFC! Switzerland is way behind Egypt in this respect. In Hurghada alone there are three KFCs; in the whole of Switzerland there was none. For those of you who are unaware, KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is my favorite food. I do try not to over-indulge.

Years ago, before I came to Switzerland, I believe, KFC opened up first in Zurich and failed and then again in Geneva and Lausanne and failed. I heard that it failed because it didn’t use Swiss chicken, but I’m not sure of the truth of that rumour.

Anyway, over the last year, they’ve suddenly started to open up branches in Switzerland (using Swiss chicken, I think) where previously there was none. I think the first three went in Geneva, Bern and Zurich, although the Zurich one ended up in Volketswil, which isn’t so easy to get to. Apparently it’s done very well, but I haven’t managed to get there.

However, the big event that I’m talking about – one which will change my life here in Switzerland – was the installation of a KFC in Zurich Airport. That’s just a 6-minute bus ride from where I live. They couldn’t have been kinder to me (my hope of having one in Glattbrugg was unrealistic, even I will admit that).

It opened just a couple of weeks ago and I went there for the opening night – with some trepidation as I heard that in Volketswil there had been large queues. When I got there, the KFC management team were having an apero in a red-carpeted area, while the customers queued at the counters. I did think about sneaking in and gatecrashing to get an apero myself (surely they could have offered their customers a part of the celebrations!), but I noticed that everyone had an official KFC badge.

There were gold balloons up spelling out KFC; there were queues, but actually it wasn’t too bad. I was there as they reached what seemed to be their 1000th customer, but there was no celebration of that, although maybe the numbers weren’t really per customer (you order and pay, then you wait for your number to be called). Or perhaps now KFC being present in Switzerland is just becoming the norm!

A professional photographer was hanging around and I saw him take a photo of someone who seemed to be a Colonel Sanders lookalike standing with two other KFC staff. I was sorely tempted to take a photo myself but they were looking at me watching from the sidelines so I didn’t dare.

I have to say, the chicken was extremely delicious; the best tasting KFC that I’ve had for a while. My 3 box menu came with three sides, so I ended up with large fries and some corn on the cob since I didn’t want coleslaw. Their milkshakes looked tempting, but I couldn’t swap it for my soft drink, but maybe it’s just as well as I guess it would have been a lot of extra calories.

I thought I’d do a cost of living exercise on KFC like they do with McDonalds (comparison of the cost of a burger in various countries). So, I was charged 22 CHF (around 18 GBP!!) for my 3-piece chicken box at the airport; in Egypt this costs me about 95 LE (around 4.50 GBP), and I see in the UK it costs around 5.20 GBP. However, in Egypt, the deal includes 1 extra side vs UK and the chicken is Halal; in Switzerland, the box provides 2 extra sides vs UK, so the three prices are not a direct comparison. But, needless to say, however you look at it, the Swiss version is considerably more expensive. Fortunately, when I’m on a Swiss salary, this isn’t a problem, but might be if I were a mere tourist or if the prices were like that in Egypt. I remember when I used to sit with my Starbucks in the Swissotel in Oerlikon and I’d invariably hear Americans discussing the price of the McDonalds across the road with utter disbelief at how much it cost. That’s Switzerland!