The company İş Gıda AŞ, which has been managing KFC and Pizza Hut brands since 2020, issued a written statement related to the unilateral termination of their contracts with “Yum! Brands”. The statement, which also shared a roadmap regarding the employees, emphasized, “Our priority is to protect the acquired rights of our employees and ensure that the process is completed with minimal inconvenience for them.”

Expressing deep sorrow for the challenging process due to the unilateral termination of the contract, the statement mentioned that the process is being conducted with transparency. It was underscored that intense efforts are being made for the process to proceed with the least possible damage for all stakeholders ensuring that it is managed with transparency. It was stated, “We are determined to manage this process transparently. We started our journey in 2020 with 138 KFC restaurants and continued by adding 58 Pizza Hut restaurants in 2022, reaching 537 restaurants solely owned by İş Gıda in 35 cities in less than 4 years. During this process, we not only increased the number of our restaurants but also built a widespread ecosystem from the supply chain to construction and courier operations, creating employment for thousands of people.”

“THEY DECIDED TO SUDDENLY TERMINATE OUR 4-YEAR COLLABORATION” The statement mentioned that the rapid growth brought investment costs that were continuously covered with equity, and the profits earned were invested in new KFC and Pizza Hut restaurant openings in line with the guidance of Yum! Brands. It was noted, “As a result, we began to struggle financially in the fourth quarter of 2024 and had to resort to very high-interest loans. During this time, we started negotiations with Yum! Brands to ensure that neither our brands nor our stakeholders suffered. Among these options was the handover of all operations to them. While the process was progressing positively, on January 8, 2025, they abruptly and unilaterally terminated our contract, deciding to suddenly end our 4-year collaboration. As a result, we had to cease operations at all KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants throughout Turkey.”

Acknowledging the significant consequences of this development for employees, business partners, and customers, the statement highlighted that necessary steps were taken to minimize the impact of the process and protect the rights of all stakeholders, especially the employees. PAYMENTS OF EMPLOYEES In the company’s statement, a roadmap regarding the employees was also shared. It was indicated that the impact of the process on employees and their families is recognized, and the sadness is deeply felt. The statement said, “Our priority is to protect the acquired rights of our employees and ensure that the process is completed with minimal inconvenience for them. In this regard, we carefully manage the process by taking necessary steps. We coordinate with authorized institutions the processes related to salaries and social rights to secure our employees’ rights.” The statement emphasized that due to the regular salary payments made so far, there were no outstanding salary debts before 2025, stating that, “For the first time in our company’s history, salaries for January could not be paid on the usual payment date. Legally, during the concordat process, employees can receive the unpaid salaries at İŞKUR on the final extension of the concordat. However, to prevent our employees from being harmed if this process lasts long, our company prioritizes the unpaid January salaries that were supposed to be paid on February 5 and could not be paid, planning to pay them by the end of February with the revenues obtained after the transfer of the restaurants within February.”

“WE WILL CONTINUE TO INFORM” The company’s statement mentioned that to dispel uncertainty, the public will be regularly and transparently informed.