Featured image for Bamboo Isn’t Just For Pandas; KFC Canada To Test Bamboo Packaging

Bamboo Isn’t Just For Pandas; KFC Canada To Test Bamboo Packaging

by Rudy Sanchez on 11/14/2019 | 1 Minute Read

The KFC paper bucket, an iconic staple of the fast-food landscape, is also a keen solution to take-out fried chicken. It allows air to circulate, traps some heat in, and the vented top allows condensation to escape, keeping the chicken dry and crispy. They've also successfully managed to avoid styrofoam entirely.

Though the red and white buckets have become as much a symbol for the chain as the Colonel himself, we have Dave Thomas of Wendy’s fame to thank for the innovation in food packaging. Before slinging never-frozen square patties, Thomas was a KFC franchisee and developed the bucket in 1962. 

The fried chicken chain isn’t done innovating either, with their latest development focused on sustainability.

KFC Canada has announced that the chain will trial packaging made out of bamboo paper throughout Canada nationwide in 2020. The trial will start with poutine boxes, and once they land the right material, they will introduce it across all their packaging, including their iconic chicken buckets.

Bamboo requires no pesticides and is a resilient, versatile plant used for centuries as a cooking vessel, lumber, paper, and a food source. The fibers are strong, and it rapidly grows, nearly 24 inches a day, maturing ten times faster than trees, in 3-5 years, on average.