KFC India marks World Braille Day with Braille-enabled Menus across Restaurants

Takes forward the brand’s pledge to build a diverse & inclusive community

by Shrutee K

National, 4^th January 2022: Taking forward the brand’s commitment towards Diversity, Equality & Inclusion, KFC India today launched braille-enabled menus at its restaurants. To commemorate World Braille Day on 4^th January, the menus are being rolled out across restaurants starting in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, and have been designed in collaboration with the National Association for the Blind (India). A first of its kind initiative by a QSR brand, the menus will be available across 500+ restaurants in the country over the coming weeks. These menus are designed to aid our visually challenged customers with a seamless ordering experience. Last year the brand announced its KFC Kshamata initiative – a focused effort towards driving 2X Empowerment by 2024. The program aims to increase the women workforce at KFC restaurants by 2X and double the footprint of Special KFCs, operated by hearing & speech impaired team members, by 2024.

Talking about KFC’s efforts in bridging the ability imbalance gap and championing greater inclusivity for persons with disabilities, Samir Menon, Managing Director, KFC India said, "Going to restaurants and having a good experience can be challenging for visually challenged customers, particularly in the process of being able to order the food they love. We are introducing Braille menus across our restaurants, so we can provide an equal, easy, and frictionless experience to all our customers, and make our products more accessible. We are focused on our efforts to bridge the gender and ability gap with our KFC Kshamata program and firmly believe that this initiative will be a huge step towards building a more inclusive community.” 

As part of the KFC Kshamata program, the brand celebrated International Day of Sign Languages in September with gusto, going ‘quiet’, literally, across Special KFCs – restaurants operated by speech & hearing-impaired team members. Customers were encouraged to communicate in sign language while placing orders as well as while communicating with friends and family over a bucket of KFC. This initiative aimed to spread awareness and acceptance about sign language as a mode of communication. KFC India has been pioneering specially abled programs for over a decade now, hiring speech and hearing-impaired team members since 2008. The brand is also credited with launching the first-ever all-women powered restaurant in Darjeeling in 2013, followed through with more such restaurants in Hyderabad and Mumbai, seeding in empowerment at the grass-root level. Recently the brand also announced support & sponsorship for the Indian Deaf Cricket teams, by partnering with the Indian Deaf Cricket Association. Going forward, KFC India will continue to drive better representation for persons with disability, creating more opportunities for them and nurturing a culture and community of inclusivity.