Huenya Fried Chicken
 | |
| Formation | May 11, 1994 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Julián Baregos |
| Founded at | San Fernando, Slokais Islands |
| Type | Public corporation |
| Headquarters | San Fernando |
| Services | fast-food |
CEO | Leah Baregos |
Revenue (2022) | 10.1 billion |
Staff (2022) | 150,615 |
| Website | www.HFC.si |
Huenya Fried Chicken (HFC) is a Slokasian-based fast-food corporation specializing in fried chicken. The chain was founded in 1994 by Julián Baregos, a former banker, who after identifying the popularity of fried chicken in the San Fernando area opened initial locations throughout San Fernando. HFC is known for its distinctive use of Huenyan imagery particularly a chicken dressed in Huenyan indigenous garb. The company was formerly known as Xiomera Fried Chicken until 2020, when in response to the Second Xiomeran Civil War, it changed the corporation's name to Huenya Fried Chicken. As of 2024, there are over 500 restaurant locations, commonly referred to as HFC's, worldwide.
History[edit | edit source]
Huenya Fried Chicken then known as Xiomera Fried Chicken was created by San Fernando-based businessman and banker, Julián Baregos. Baregos created XFC to appeal to the growing popularity of fried chicken, which had traditionally been considered food for the lower classes. The original recipe for species has remained a closely guarded company secret, although it's believed to have been derived from a street vendor in the Salvador City neighborhood. Initially, Baregos wanted to call his company KFC or Kolda Fried Chicken although decided against it due to the recent memory of the brutal Koldan War. Xiomeran culture was somewhat popular in the 1990s due to the popularity of a TV series on Xiomeran warriors.
The first location of XFC was built in the suburban community of Pubelos del Pino, with the restaurant becoming successful due to its convenience and appeal to the growing middle class. Soon using a franchise model, Baregos opened 10 restaurants by 1996 including its most popular location in the Promenade Mall in Downtown San Fernando. As the company grew, XFC began to appeal more to the idea of culture and convenience with locations adopting a faux Huenyan design with geometric patterns and the creation of the company mascot, the Flavor God as well as sidekicks known as the High Priests of Flavor.
In 2001, the first international location was opened in Laeral, with XFC quickly becoming one of the country's most popular foreign fast-food joints. Additionally, XFC attempted to branch out into selling fry-up, a popular Slokaisian dish. In 2003, XFC bought up several sit-down restaurant chains including Rodrigo's House of Sandwich and Donnely's, a popular breakfast chain.
Operations and Franchises[edit | edit source]
HFC has embraced a franchise model when expanding its operations abroad. As of 2024, HFC locations are operational in numerous nations, including Slokais Islands, Laeral, High Fells, Darya, Haesan, and others. Attempts to expand what was at the time Xiomera Fried Chicken into Xiomera in 2009 proved unsuccessful due to legal difficulties and a nationalist boycott of a brand seen as promoting insensitive stereotypes of Xiomeran culture abroad.
HFC operates under a fast-food model, including drive-thru operations. Popular menu items include the Original or Spicy Huenya Wings, typically sold in the "Bucket o' Wings" format, as well as sides such as Huenya Fries. A "Junior Jaguar Menu" is targeted at kids, and the "Jaguar Meal" is accompanied with a small toy. HFC's current slogan is "Finger Lickin' Tasty," having discarded previous slogans as racially insensitive. Meals sold at Huenya Fried Chicken typically bear little resemblance to Huenyan cuisine.
In 2022, HFC debuted HFC Obsidian, a program for frequent customers to earn rewards for HFC purchases using an accompanying app. In addition, Sun Mart Savings members also qualified for discounts starting in 2023. HFC is also a primary food partner of the UNL University System, allowing students to receive discounted prices with a student id.
Allegations of Racism[edit | edit source]
Huenya Fried Chicken has frequently been accused of racial insensitivity for its appropriation of Xiomeran and Huenyan culture and the string of brand mascots used to advertise XFC/HFC restaurants, including "the Flavor God." Although Huenya Fried Chicken does employ spices characteristic of Huenyan cuisine in its Original Huenya Wings, Huenya Fries, and related products, the company was founded by a Slokaisian man with no ties to Xiomera or Huenya and had never set foot in either country, and no one with roots in the Greater Huenya region was on the company's corporate board until 2021. The chain's mascot, the Flavor God, is a supposedly Huenyan deity possessing a divine ability to craft delicious chicken-based products at affordable, family-friendly prices, and was initially known in merchandising materials as "the Flavor God Tasty-otl" and depicted as a rotund Huenyan man in a feathered headdress.
Due to criticisms from various groups with ties to the Greater Huenya region, who viewed the character of the Flavor God Tasty-otl as mocking Huenyan culture and indigenous religious beliefs, in 2009 the Xiomera Fried Chicken corporation rebranded the figure as an anthropomorphic chicken, while abandoning slogans such as "Great taste. Don't sacrifice your wallet" seen as playing into bigoted tropes connecting Huenyan indigenous religion to human sacrifice. In 2010, the name "Tasty-otl," seen as racially insensitive, was discarded, with the mascot henceforth being referred to as "the Flavor God."
In 2015, the corporation then known as Xiomera Fried Chicken was the target of protests and a global boycott by the Xiomeran diaspora after airing a commercial depicting a tribe of premodern Huenyans on the verge of sacrificing a young woman in order to appease a volcano deity, before the Flavor God (in anthropomorphic chicken form) appeared and offered the tribe XFC products such as the "Bucket o' Wings" and the "Junior Jaguar Meal." After condemnation by by numerous Xiomeran civil society and diaspora groups, XFC CEO Julián Baregos apologized to the Xiomeran community, announcing that "The Flavor God has always stood for unity and brotherhood over delicious, finger lickin' tasty food, not hatred and bigotry...I apologize profoundly to those who may have been hurt by any of the messaging our company has promoted."
In 2020, the company's decision to rebrand as "Huenya Fried Chicken" was condemned by Xiomeran nationalist groups, who claimed that the company's rebranding was an affront to the Xiomeran people.