More bad news for KFC fans: A chicken shortage that has closed hundreds of stores in the U.K. could last all week.
The fast food chain was forced to shut restaurants across the country after a logistics snafu hit chicken deliveries.
As many as 800 of about 900 KFC locations were closed on Monday. Roughly 600 locations remained closed at lunchtime on Tuesday.
“Each day more deliveries are being made, however, we expect the disruption to some restaurants to continue over the remainder of the week, meaning some will be closed and others operating with a reduced menu or shortened hours,” a KFC spokesperson said in a statement emailed to CNN.
In a message posted on its UK Twitter account, KFC said “our teams are working round the cluck” to reopen all restaurants.
KFC, which is owned by Taco Bell and Pizza Hut parent Yum!, said the chicken shortage had been caused by a “couple of teething problems” with its new delivery partner, DHL.
DHL said Monday that a number of deliveries had been “incomplete or delayed” because of “operational issues.”
KFC switched suppliers from Bidvest Logistics to DHL last week. Bidvest said that from its perspective, the transition had been “seamless.”
The U.K. is KFC’s largest market in Europe, and one of its top five globally.
Franchisees operate 95% of KFC’s outlets in the country. The company said Monday that it would pay its staff as normal, and it was encouraging franchisees to do the same.
KFC did not say whether it would compensate its franchisee operators for lost business.
KFC fans have used social media to complain and express their amusement this week over a chicken restaurant running out of its signature product.
— CNN’s Ivana Kottasová contributed to this report.
