Yum Brands, owner of the KFC fast-food chain, has issued a belated apology to consumers in China for the way it handled a recent food scare, underlining the struggles that the US company faces in the increasingly competitive Chinese market.

Yum, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut in China, is the biggest foreign restaurateur in the country by sales, dominating even McDonald’s in the fast-food market. It arrived in China earlier than other fast-food brands, and has long been seen as a model of how to localise a foreign brand while marketing its food as safer and of higher quality than that of local restaurants.

Last month’s food scare, prompted by a state television report saying that some chickens supplied to KFC and McDonald’s had excessive amounts of antiviral drugs and growth hormones, hit sales hard. Some consumers called for a boycott of the company on Sina Weibo, a popular microblogging site.

Same-store sales fell 6 per cent during the fourth quarter, Yum said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing earlier this week, attributing this to “adverse publicity associated with a government review of China poultry supply”.

肯德基(KFC)快餐连锁店所属的百胜餐饮集团(Yum Brands)就其在近期食品恐慌事件中的处理方式，向中国消费者表达了迟来的道歉。此事凸显出这家美国企业在竞争日趋激烈的中国市场所面临的艰难处境。

作 为肯德基和必胜客(Pizza Hut)的经营者，百胜餐饮是中国市场上销售额最大的外资餐饮企业，在快餐市场上甚至大幅领先于麦当劳(McDonald’s)。百胜餐饮进入中国市场比 其他快餐品牌都要早，长期以来被誉为行业典范——不但懂得如何实现“洋品牌”本地化，而且在营销中推广自己所提供食品比本地餐馆更安全、更优质的观念。

上个月发生的食品恐慌事件，使百胜餐饮的销售遭到了重创。事件起因是中国国家电视台在一则报道中称，肯德基和麦当劳采购的部分肉鸡被喂食了过多的抗生素和生长激素。有些消费者在人气颇高的新浪微博(Sina Weibo)上呼吁联合抵制百胜餐饮。

本周早些时候，百胜餐饮在提交美国证交会(SEC)的一份文件中表示，去年第四季度同店销售额下降了6%，并指出原因在于“中国政府对禽类供应行业的审查结果所引起的负面报道”。

译者/邢嵬