Here's How Many KFC Employees Actually Know The Secret Recipe

Thanks to its distinctive logo and delicious chicken meals, KFC is perhaps one of the easily recognizable fast food brands in many parts of the world. However, while many are familiar with its branding elements, very few know the secret recipe that makes its chicken offerings unique. 

According to Delish, brand founder Colonel Sanders wanted to ensure that the spice recipe he came up with would remain private, a secret to be cherished for many years to come. This recipe is believed to have 11 different herbs and spices, and it is said that Sanders carried the recipe around with him in his wallet. In fact, very few company executives knew what the recipe was. This secret remained intact after the recipe was kept safely locked inside a vault. 

Just to be clear, this is serious business. Even the company's head chef Bob Das has said that he has no idea what the secret recipe is (via The Daily Meal). For perspective, Das has worked at KFC for more than two decades and believes that you have to be a very senior official at KFC to unearth the secret recipe.

It is safe to say that the KFC spice mix is very special for the brand. The original recipe is hidden in a vault in Louisville — and if you try really hard and trace the ingredients for the spice mix, you'll realize that two entirely different companies are involved in the process. Per The Daily Meal, Griffith Laboratories manages half the ingredients, while the rest is taken care of by McCormick. 

The combination to the lock where the original recipe is hidden is something that's not widely known, either. To be precise, just one employee knows the code, while two others know the exact combination of herbs and are responsible for the super secret recipe (via Gizmodo). 

While this is great for marketing and selling KFC as a brand, not everyone is impressed by the secrecy. A Redditor said that they don't care too much about the spice blend and wrote, "I like Kentucky Fried Chicken, because it's fried f****** chicken and that s**** is great, but it's not like the spices are so mind-blowing that the secret needs to be guarded at all costs."