Sabir Sami has been appointed as KFC Global Chief Executive Officer by Yum! Brands with effect from January 1, 2022, according to a press release.
The Pakistani Canadian is currently Chief Operating Officer of KFC Division and Managing Director of KFC Asia and is based in Toronto, Canada.
Currently, Tony Lowings is the CEO of KFC and will be retiring at the end of 2021 in advance of his retirement in 2022. Lowings has been working with Yum! Brands for more than 27 years, having been CEO of KFC since 2019.
Sami will get international responsibility for handling and managing the brand policy and performance of KFC. He will be accountable to Yum! Brands CEO David Gibbs.
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“Sabir is an exceptional leader with deep expertise and knowledge of our business and has a strong, proven track record of growing KFC’s physical and brand presence in markets around the world,” said Gibbs.
“As a highly-respected strategic brand builder, operations expert, and heart-led leader, Sabir Sami is a natural choice to continue successfully executing KFC’s long-term global growth strategies in close partnership with our franchisees and further elevate KFC as a relevant, easy and distinctive (R.E.D.) brand.”
Besides supervising functioning policy for all KFC markets, Sami also works as managing director of KFC Asia, a flourishing region for the product demonstrating 17 markets, excluding China, and including almost 15 percent of all KFC Division restaurants.
Moreover, Sami worked as managing director for the Middle East, Pakistan, North Africa, and Turkey markets, where he was contributing a major part in the growth of the business and making KFC one of the region’s most R.E.D. brands.
Sami was also a part of KFC Canada and Turkey businesses as General Manager. Before joining Yum! Sami had experience in leadership roles at the Coca-Cola Company, Procter & Gamble, and Reckitt Benckiser.
“I’m incredibly privileged and excited to continue working with our talented and dedicated KFC leaders and amazing franchise partners around the world to keep strengthening and accelerating the development of our powerful, iconic brand,” said Sami.
“KFC is uniquely positioned around the world as a well-loved, well-trusted brand with millions of fans – the future is certainly bright.”
