By Clyde Noel

Pete and Arline Harman’s lives changed the evening a white-haired, goateed acquaintance from Kentucky cooked dinner for them at their restaurant. That was 50 years ago and the humble beginnings of the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain, when Col. Harland Sanders cooked his famous chicken.

Today, there are more than 11,000 KFC restaurants throughout the world, and the Harmans live comfortably in Los Altos Hills. Pete, now in his 80s, still keeps in touch with the Harman Management company on First Street in Los Altos and visits his 307 restaurants in California, Colorado, Washington and Utah. Each of the restaurants is a separate corporation with individual stockholders.

Harman was born in 1919 in Salt Lake City, during the influenza epidemic. His mother died soon after he was born, and his father five years later. Harman’s aunt Caroline raised him, teaching him the virtues of hard work, honor, integrity and charity. Harman brought those principles to the Harman Management family.

In 1936, he hitchhiked to San Francisco and found work in a steel mill. In the deep throes of the Depression, he was laid off and wound up as a dishwasher at John’s Steak House on Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco. That was the start of Harman’s 65 years in the restaurant business.

Harman met Arline at a San Francisco dance hall and married her in 1938.

When Caroline died in 1940, the couple went back to Salt Lake City and eventually bought a restaurant for $700 at 39th South and State streets. During World War II, Arline took care of the flourishing hamburger restaurant while Pete fulfilled his military obligation. This was the restaurant where the colonel cooked up his famous meal for the Harmans in 1952, 11 years after the restaurant opened.

Col. Sanders’ chicken was coated with a blend of 11 herbs and spices, and Harman was hooked after a few bites. The colonel convinced the Harmans to put the chicken on the menu, and they changed the name on the window to Kentucky Fried Chicken.

“We couldn’t cook the chicken fast enough,” Harman said. “For $3.50 the customer got 14 pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes, rolls and gravy in a box.”

Later, Harman changed the box to the famous bucket with Col. Sanders’ face on the side.

After Harman put the name on the restaurant window, he agreed to pay the colonel 5 cents for every chicken he sold. The deal was made on a handshake, and that was the first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise.

As the company’s first franchisee, Harman and his wife are privy to the colonel’s secret blend of herbs and spices that gives the chicken its unique taste. The recipe is locked in a vault at KFC headquarters in Louisville, Ky., and only a handful of people, sworn to secrecy, know the ingredients.

“It was a dream of mine to be able to have my own business and help people grow from within the company. We put a lot of effort into everything we did,” Harman said. “Things worked out, and we’ve done pretty good all along.”

Company philosophy dictates that everyone start at the bottom and work their way through the company. Harman’s philosophy is to train from within. Jackie Trujillo, Harman’s right-hand person and chairwoman of the board, started as a carhop in Utah.

“We have dedicated crews who take ownership and pride in their jobs and in their restaurants,” Harman said. “I’m always looking for new products and concepts. I see my associates in the restaurant business as friends, not competitors.”

Pete and Arline are givers. “Money’s only good for what you can do with it,” Pete said. An unassuming couple, the Harmans are major contributors to various non-profit organizations.

When Pete contributed to a large building on the Brigham Young University campus, the university wanted to name it after him. Today it is the only building on campus named after a woman — Caroline Hemenway Harman, the aunt who raised Pete.

Pete bought the home where he was born and converted it into the Westside Salt Lake City Senior Center. He is a contributor and sponsor for many public service programs such as the “Nightly Business Report.”

KFC has not been free of problems, most of them related to mergers. Heublein, the alcohol company, bought KFC in 1971. In 1982 Heublein was acquired by R.J. Reynolds, the tobacco company. Neither company knew much about the restaurant business. Then in 1986, PepsiCo acquired KFC.

In 1997 PepsiCo spun off KFC along with Taco Bell and Pizza Hut to form a new company, Tricon Global Restaurants. This year Tricon changed its name to Yum! Brands Inc.

There is not a lot of chain or brand loyalty by consumers in the fast-food business because customers can get the same menu in most places. This has led to new slogans. For instance, Taco Bell is running “Think Outside the Bun” and KFC is using “There’s Fast Food. Then There’s KFC.”

When families with children go out for a meal, 80 percent of the time the children pick the restaurant. Marketers of fast-food chains such as McDonald’s and Burger King know this and offer meals with toys currently popular in the media. The food is not as important as the toy.

KFC does not advertise a toy promotion. If KFC sold to children it could increase sales, but it chooses to sell mainly to adults.

Pete and the employees of Harman Management have been pillars in the growth of KFC. With sweat and tears along the way, many franchisees now sport a “finger-lickin’ good” life thanks to Pete and Arline Harman, our neighbors in the Hills.