LAHORE: In socially conservative Pakistan where millions of women are denied their basic right to work, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has set a new trend by setting up an eatery, run by an entirely all-women staff.
Nestled in a sprawling food court in Lahore’s massive Packages Mall, the busy KFC branch in the eastern Pakistani city is now the country’s first eatery where the cooking, managing, cleaning, and serving is run solely by women staffers handling hundreds of daily orders, with no men in sight except for in the customer queue.
Huma Farooq, manager at the branch is only 26 years old but rose through the ranks quickly after starting out as a front-desk worker.
“In Pakistan, women are taught to manage their house,” Farooq told Arab News. “They do everything for their homes. They clean, cook and serve. This branch is different from the others. Women take it as their home and ... give it their best,” she said.
“We all treat each other like sisters or relatives and share each other’s burdens,” she said.
And that sisterhood seems to be bringing in results in the form of revenue targets, which are being more than met.
“Honestly speaking, the all-female branch is giving the best performance, and feedback from the customers is really encouraging,” KFC’s Chief Operating Officer in Lahore, Hamayun Sajid, told Arab News.
“The idea behind launching an all-female branch was to give empowerment to women and to encourage (other) women to follow the trend,” he said.
KFC now plans on launching more women-run branches in other major Pakistani cities, including Islamabad and Karachi.
Ramiz Khan, 16, a student on his first visit to Pakistan from Dubai, told Arab News that a trip to the chicken joint unwittingly changed his view of the country.
“The restaurant has changed my perception about Pakistan,” he said. “It is my first trip to the country as I was born and raised in Dubai. I can say that Pakistan is not (as) conservative as portrayed generally.”
The praise was unrelenting from customers at the tables and standing in the queue, as the staffers were hard at work behind the scenes and at the counters.
Another customer from Lahore, Sabata Shah, told Arab News, “I love fried chicken and often go to KFC. After visiting this branch, I can tell you that I was quite comfortable here as I was being handled by women.”
“Women from conservative backgrounds normally don’t feel comfortable with male waiters or order-takers in restaurants,” she said. “But here, they will be.”
Lahore’s all-women run eatery sets a new trend
Lahore’s all-women run eatery sets a new trend
- The all-female staff is meeting revenue targets and giving “best” performance
- KFC now plans on launching more women-run branches in other major Pakistani cities
Four people, including two policemen, killed in twin blasts in northwest Pakistan
- Attack on police van in South Waziristan and motorbike-mounted IED in Lakki Marwat hits KP province
- Violence comes amid a surge in militancy and cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: At least four people, including two policemen, were killed and about 20 others wounded in two separate blasts in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday, officials said, the latest violence in a region grappling with militant violence.
One explosion targeted a police patrol van in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan district near the Afghan border, while another blast caused by explosives mounted on a motorbike struck a market area in Lakki Marwat district, according to police officials and preliminary reports.
The incidents come amid rising militant violence in Pakistan’s northwest, where authorities say armed groups operate from across the border in Afghanistan, straining relations between Islamabad and the Taliban administration in Kabul, with both sides engaged in a military conflict since last month.
“The control room received information in the evening about a bomb blast targeting a police van in Wana Bazaar,” a police official in the area, who did not want to be named, confirmed while speaking to Arab News over the phone.
He confirmed two deaths in the incident while saying more than 25 people had been injured.
The official said rescue teams responded promptly and shifted three seriously injured people to a nearby hospital in Wana.
In another incident during the day in Lakki Marwat, an improvised explosive device attached to a motorbike exploded near shops.
“Two people have been killed and about 10 have been injured in an IED blast in Lakki Marwat,” Raza Khan, Deputy Superintendent of Police in Bannu, told Arab News.
“The deceased are identified as Shoaib Ur Rehman and Furqan Ullah,” he added. “Shoaib, the owner of the shop, was the brother of the Lakki peace committee head.”
Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attacks and expressed grief over the incidents.
“I strongly condemn the blast near a police patrolling vehicle in Wana Bazaar,” Naqvi said in a statement, confirming the killing of four people, including two police personnel.
“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police are on the front line in the war against terrorism,” he said, noting the force had made “unforgettable sacrifices” in the fight against militant groups.
Militant violence has surged in Pakistan’s border regions in recent months, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban government of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to operate from Afghan territory — a charge Kabul denies — as cross-border tensions between the two neighbors have escalated.
