Sandeep Kohli, managing director, and Arvind Mediratta, chief marketing officer, Indian subcontinent of Yum! Restaurants International launched the first KFC outlet in Delhi last week. While Kohli enthusiastically cheered Yum, Mediratta promptly corrected anybody calling the restaurant Kentucky’s Fried Chicken. He emphasised, “It is just KFC.”
So, what do the two of them eat themselves? No marks for guessing. Both played safe and replied KFC and Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut too falls in the bouquet of Yum restaurants. “I prefer it whenever I am travelling, which is almost 15-18 days a month. Otherwise anything out of my kitchen would do,” says Kohli. For Mediratta, Pizza Hut is a weekly must apart from the Indian flavours at Bukhara and Dum Pukht that he loves to savour.

However, it is not just food that they have on their mind always. They share a deep interest for reading and travel as well. While Kohli can read absolutely anything that interests him (fiction, non-fiction, autobiographies), Mediratta loves to read Jack Welch. Tracking the Indian economy through newspapers, journals and magazines is yet another common interest.

Kohli admits to be a “trekking enthusiast.” Age and work don’t allow him to indulge in the adventure sport anymore. So he travels as and when he can. After his family holiday to Portugal last summer he is already looking forward to the next one. Mediratta is still enthralled by his recent Rajasthan tour. “I hope China figures next on my travel itinerary,” he adds.

What makes their combination winning, however, is their approach to work. “It is very important to have the right human resources. Half the battle is won when you recruit good, smart people. The management team should be excellent,” opines Kohli.

“It is your attitude and not your aptitude that determines your altitude. I believe that irrespective of your brand proposition – you must sell happiness. And that is why we try to provide “eater-tainment” at KFC,” adds Mediratta.

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