History / Growth
Just as success rarely happens overnight, it takes time to create the best recipes. In our first 10 years, Yum! has achieved some great results, and this is only the beginning. We want long-lasting success, and we are committed to maintaining our own unique flavor.
Taste test – where we’ve been and where we are today
In the late 70's and 80's, PepsiCo acquired three great restaurant brands; Pizza Hut in 1977, Taco Bell in 1978 and KFC in 1986. In 1997, PepsiCo decided to spin off the restaurant group as a separate, focused restaurant company. What follows are highlights of our journey to greatness.
1997: KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut spin off from PepsiCo to form Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., the world's largest restaurant company, and YUM trades for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange.
2001: Tricon Global Restaurants begins quarterly Customer Mania training for its more than 840,000 associates worldwide every year. It is our passion: To put a Yum! on customers' faces around the world.
2002: Tricon Global Restaurants changes its name to Yum! Brands, Inc., with the acquisition of the Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food restaurant brands. These great brands also fuel Yum!'s unique concept of Multibranding, providing customers branded retaurant choices under one roof.
2004: Yum! Brands international division, Yum! Restaurants International (YRI), drives international growth opening its 1000th KFC in China and its 300th Pizza Hut in Korea. Outside the United States, the Yum! Brands system opens about three new restaurants each day of the year, making it one of the fastest-growing retailers in the world.
2004: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raises Yum! Brands' ratings to Investment Grade. Yum! Brands initiates first-ever quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share of common stock.
2004: Bestselling business author Ken Blanchard releases new book, Customer Mania!: It's Never Too Late to Build a Customer-Focused Company, that highlights Yum! Brands' people first, performance driven culture.
2006: Yum! Brands is the first-ever corporate sponsor of the Kentucky Derby and produces its first-ever national television commercials as part of the Derby race. November 22, 2006: Yum! Stock trades at an all time high of $63.68
2007: Yum! continues to expand globally, opening a new store in China every day.
