About 300 of KFC’s top marketers from around the world will descend upon the company’s global headquarters in Dallas this week to share best practices, industry trends and menu ideas. It’s at this Marketing Planning Meeting—which has been held since 2006—where much of the brand’s menu magic happens. If you’re not fully familiar with what that “magic” entails, consider KFC product launches from around the world: KFC Thailand’s shrimp doughnuts, Singapore’s egg tarts, Australia’s nacho box, the Double Down Dog (a hot dog wrapped in a bun-sized piece of fried chicken) the Mac ‘n Cheese Zinger (with a bun made of mac ‘n cheese) and, of course, the original Zinger Chicken Sandwich, which originated in Trinidad and Tobago in 1984 and finally came to the U.S. in 2017. (Australia sells more than 22 million Zingers each year.) The company’s massive scale of 22,000-plus restaurants in more than 135 countries certainly hasn’t slowed down its innovation wheel. In fact, KFC just launched a chicken tender taco in France, debuted green chili crunch chicken in Malaysia and added “Chizza” (pizza with a fried chicken crust) to the menu in the Philippines. In Canada, the chain unveiled Chachos earlier this year, a take on nachos but with KFC’s chicken tenders instead of tortilla chips. The scope of menu creativity is impressive and the approach has been quite successful. KFC Indonesia rolled out chicken skin fries earlier this summer, for example, and the product sold out on one day. The company’s vegan Imposter Burger, launched in June in the U.K., sold out in just four days. KFC is able to set this pace because it has 18 food innovation teams throughout the world filled with culinarians with big imaginations. Simultaneously, the company stringently adheres to its brand standards (the very 11 herbs and spices that put the chain on the map), thanks to a four-person Food Innovation Team based out of its Dallas headquarters. – Source: Forbes.