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KFC is set to open outlets on the storied slopes of two of Italy’s most iconic ski resorts this winter, sparking outrage and legal threats from locals and purists alike.
On Dec. 5, the fried chicken purveyor will open at its highest-ever locations on the storied slopes of Cortina d’Ampezzo and Madonna di Campiglio in the Dolomites of Northeastern Italy.
The two new locations fall under KFC’s “quick service restaurants” concept.
Marzia Farè, the chief marketing officer for KFC Italia, told brandnews.it the restaurants are targeting a swath of fowl feasters “from young families to mountain lovers.”
This deep-fried debut marks the first time a fast-food chain has set up shop on an Italian ski slope.
Farè maintains the opening is aimed at “surprising people” and “reaching places where nobody would expect to find us” without sacrificing the special blend of herbs, spices and capitalism that “makes them unique.”
News of the opening has inspired shock and awe, particularly for Alberico Zardini, the majority shareholder of the Cortina d’Ampezzo infrastructure operator, Faloria Spa.
“The mere idea is disgraceful,” Zardini told Il Messaggero. “It’s absurd and shameful to imagine a fast-food joint in the most beautiful spot in Cortina. Do the people of Cortina not realize what we’re risking here?”
Among the risks Zardini is railing against is the degradation of the Faloria mountain club, where a luxury lodge is due to open on an upper floor.
“I am 100% against it and will not just sit back and watch,” he declared.
To that end, Zardini has allegedly written to the overlords of Faloria, warning them that he would pursue legal action if KFC is permitted to open.
On the opposite side of the Dolomites, trouble is bubbling for a second KFC location, this one in Madonna di Campiglio, on Piana di Nambino, directly next to a high-end après-ski club.
Luigi Casanova of Mountain Wilderness, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving alpine environments, lamented to Corriere della Sera that the traditional age of polenta and luganega sausage is dead—a tragic sentiment shared by Trentino provincial councilor Paola Demagri, who bewailed that local mountain culture is being “sold out to Kentucky chicken.”
As Italian customers face increasingly steep ski pass costs, some argue that the new KFC locations offer a cheap alternative in an expensive environment.
Still, other critics are blaming not KFC but the denigrating tastes of Italians themselves.
“We Italian consumers should be a tad more cultured,” Oscar Farinetti, the founder of Eataly, told Il Sole 24 Ore.
“We need to acknowledge our assets – our cuisine made of few ingredients and excellent products. There is a lack of studying one’s own roots – we’re eating fried chicken instead of a nice slice of salami with a glass of fresh wine,” he added.
This marks the latest in a cultural discourse about the perilous soul of Italian culture.
Earlier this month, an Italian chef working in Brisbane, Australia, denied a request to add pineapple to pizza, calling it an “insult to his culture,” and was subsequently fired.
