KFC Now Has A Gravy Shortage In The UK & Customers Are Freaking Out

If there's one thing you would think you could rely on the fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken for, it's Kentucky Fried Chicken. But, as it turns out, not even restaurants with "chicken" in the literal title are immune to delivery snafus: In Feb. 2018, locations of the restaurant across the entirety of the UK reported a massive chicken shortage, due to issues with their delivery service. As a result, some locations in the UK had to temporarily close their doors, and others were running on a limited menu. Understandably, fans of the chain were shook — so much so that, reportedly, people across England were actually calling the police to report the shortage. But, things seemed to be looking up as March 2018 approached and the chicken shortage began to be resolved. However, though the chicken shortage at KFC might be a thing of the past, it looks like UK locations have been hit with another menu item shortage due to a delivery snafu: Apparently, UK KFC locations now have a gravy shortage.

According to Yum! Brands, the company that owns KFC, UK locations of the fast food restaurant recently underwent a change in delivery suppliers. As a result of the switch, there's been a bit of a hold up which has resulted in said shortages. On Valentine's Day 2018, 900 restaurants in the UK and Ireland, switched over their delivery contracts from Bidvest Logistics to DHL in a money-saving effort, according to a Yum! spokesman. To deal with the shortage, hundreds of restaurants were forced to close their doors entirely, while others operated on a limited menu with hangry customers.

And now, while 97 percent of the UK region's KFC restaurants are open for business with chicken back in stock, they are still experiencing gravy shortages. And while the people probably are just happy to finally have their chicken back, the situation is surely bittersweet as chicken without gravy is only half the fun.

Crisis and all, the company has a pretty good sense of humor about the whole thing. Following the no-chicken debacle, KFC UK ran an apology in the local newspaper by taking out an ad that featured a picture of a chicken bucket with the KFC logo rearranged to read "FCK." With it, a text blurb read: "WE'RE SORRY. A chicken restaurant without any chicken. It's not ideal ...Thank you for bearing with us."

And while you'll find a lot of people on Twitter voicing their less than cheery opinions about the shortages, you'll also find a hashtag that the company started called #wheresmychicken that will lead you to the closest KFC restaurant that's open and stocked with chicken.

The company's interaction with customers on social media certainly sweetens the blow, and isn't surprising considering Yum! Brands has a reputation of being pretty savvy on social. They're the same funny people behind the Taco Bell and Pizza Hut social media accounts (fast food chains which they also own) who have knack for using humor to deal with stressful situations and company setbacks.

As for where to find your gravy, well, it seems like the company is still trying to sort that out with their supplier and there's not yet a hashtag that will lead you to your gravy.

If you live in Britain and are heading to KFC today, there's a chance you won't be able to order gravy, so it's worth keeping that in mind. Of course, these things happen — so try to be patient and give them a minute to sort out their new supplier situation. Hopefully the change will mean better business in the future!

And chicken!