Frito-Lay North America is the division of
PepsiCoPepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
that manufactures, markets and sells corn chips, potato chips and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include
FritosFritos is the name of a brand of corn chips made by Frito-Lay. Elmer Doolin was so taken with the bag of corn chips served with his lunch in San Antonio, Texas that he paid $100 for the recipe. In 1932, he started the Frito Corporation. Original Fritos ingredients are limited to whole corn, corn...
corn chips,
CheetosCheetos is a brand of cheese-flavored cornmeal snack made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the U.S. The initial success of Cheetos was a contributing factor to the merger between The Frito Company...
cheese-flavored snacks,
DoritosDoritos is a brand of seasoned tortilla chips created by Arch West and produced since 1964 by the American food company Frito-Lay ....
and
TostitosTostitos is a brand of tortilla chips and dips produced by Frito-Lay and introduced in 1979, with national distribution in the United States reached in 1981. They are made from all-white corn. Traditionally, Tostitos chips contain no extra flavoring or preservatives, and thus are advertised to be...
tortilla chips,
Lay'sLay's is the brand name for a number of potato chip varieties as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in 1932. Lay's chips has been marketed as a division of Frito-Lay, a company owned by PepsiCo since 1965...
potato chips,
RufflesRuffles is the name of a brand of ruffled potato chips produced by Frito-Lay. Frito Company acquired the rights to Ruffles brand potato chips in 1958....
chips and Walker's potato crisps (Europe)—each of which generated annual worldwide sales over $1 billion in 2009.
Frito-Lay began in the early 1930s as two separate companies, The Frito Company and H.W. Lay & Company. The two merged in 1961 to form
Frito-Lay, Inc. Four years later, in 1965, Frito-Lay, Inc. merged with the Pepsi-Cola Company, resulting in the formation of
PepsiCo, Inc.PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
Since that time, Frito-Lay has operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of
PepsiCoPepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
. Through Frito-Lay, PepsiCo is the largest globally distributed snack food company in the world, with sales of its products in 2009 comprising 40 percent of all "savory snacks" sold in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and 30 percent of the non-U.S. market. Frito-Lay North America accounts for 31 percent of PepsiCo's annual sales.
The Frito Company
In 1932, Charles Elmer Doolin, manager of the Highland Park Confectionery in San Antonio, purchased a
corn chipA corn chip is a snack food made from cornmeal fried in oil or baked, usually in the shape of a small noodle or scoop. Corn chips are thick, rigid and very crunchy...
recipe, a handheld
potato ricerA potato ricer is a kitchen implement used to process potatoes by forcing it through small holes, which are often not much wider than a grain of rice. Mashed potatoes is a food commonly made using this utensil. In technical terms, it works by a process of extrusion. A potato ricer can also be used...
and 19 retail accounts from a corn chip manufacturer for $100, which he borrowed from his mother. Doolin established a new corn chip business, The Frito Company, in his mother's kitchen. Doolin and his mother and brother produced the corn chips, named
FritosFritos is the name of a brand of corn chips made by Frito-Lay. Elmer Doolin was so taken with the bag of corn chips served with his lunch in San Antonio, Texas that he paid $100 for the recipe. In 1932, he started the Frito Corporation. Original Fritos ingredients are limited to whole corn, corn...
, and had a production capacity of approximately 10 pounds per day. Doolin distributed the Fritos in 5¢ bags. Daily sales totaled $8 to $10 and profits averaged about $2 per day. In 1933, the production of Fritos increased from 10 pounds to nearly 100 pounds due to the development of a "hammer" press. By the end of the year, production lines were operating in Houston and Dallas. The Frito Company headquarters also moved to Dallas to capitalize on the city's central location and better availability of raw materials. In 1937, The Frito Company opened its Research and Development lab and introduced new products, including Fritos Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Fritos Peanuts, to supplement Fritos and Fritatos
Potato ChipsPotato chips are thin slices of potato that are deep fried...
, which had been introduced in 1935.
In 1941, the company opened its Western Division in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with two sales routes, which would become the prototype for The Frito Company's distribution system. In 1945, The Frito Sales Company was established to separate sales from production activities. Expansion continued with the issue of six franchises through the Frito National Company in the same year. In 1950, Fritos were sold in all 48 states. The Frito Company issued its first public stock offering in 1954. At the time of Doolin's death in 1959, The Frito Company produced over forty products, had plants in eighteen cities, employed over 3,000 people and had sales in 1958 in excess of $50 million. By 1962, Fritos would be sold in 48 countries.
H.W. Lay & Company
In the 1920s, salesman
Herman LayHerman W. Lay was a Nashville, Tennessee, USA businessman who started H.W. Lay Co., Inc., now part of the Frito-Lay corporation.Lay began his career as a 24-year-old delivery driver. As a travelling salesman for the Barrett Food Company, he delivered potato chips to his customers in his Ford Model...
sold potato chips in southern United States out of his car. In 1932, Lay began a potato chip business in
Nashville, TennesseeNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. Lay was hired as a salesman for the Barrett Food Products Company, an
Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
manufacturer of Gardner's Potato Chips, and eventually took over Barrett's Nashville warehouse as a distributor. Lay hired his first salesman in 1934, and three years later had 25 employees and a larger manufacturing facility where he produced
popcornPopcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...
and peanut butter sandwich crackers.
A representative of the Barrett Food Company contacted Lay in 1938, offering to sell Barrett's plants in Atlanta and
MemphisMemphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
to Lay for $60,000. Lay borrowed $30,000 from a bank and persuaded the Barrett Company to take the difference in preferred stock. Lay moved his headquarters to Atlanta and formed
H.W. Lay & Company in 1939. He later purchased the Barrett manufacturing plant in
Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, along with additional plants in
Jackson, MississippiJackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
,
Louisville, KentuckyLouisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
and
Greensboro, North CarolinaGreensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
. Lay retained the
Gardner trademark of Barrett Food Products until 1944, when the product name was changed to
Lay'sLay's is the brand name for a number of potato chip varieties as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in 1932. Lay's chips has been marketed as a division of Frito-Lay, a company owned by PepsiCo since 1965...
Potato Chips.
Lay expanded further in the 1950s with the purchase of
The Richmond Potato Chip Company and the
Capitol Frito Corporation. By 1956, with more than 1,000 employees, plants in eight cities and branches or warehouses in thirteen others, H.W. Lay & Company was the largest manufacturer of potato chips and snack foods in the United States.
Merger forms Frito-Lay, Inc.
In 1945, the Frito Company granted the H.W. Lay & Company an exclusive franchise to manufacture and distribute Fritos in the Southeast. The two companies worked toward national distribution and developed a close business affiliation. In September 1961, The Frito Company and H.W. Lay & Company merged to become
Frito-Lay, Inc., combining their headquarters in Dallas, Texas. At this point, the company's annual revenues totaled $127 million, largely generated from sales of its four main brands at the time: Fritos, Lays, Cheetos and Ruffles.
Division of PepsiCo, Inc.
In February 1965, the boards of directors for Frito-lay, Inc. and Pepsi-Cola announced a plan for the merger of the two companies. On June 8, 1965, the merger of Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola Company was approved by shareholders of both companies, and a new company called PepsiCo, Inc. was formed. At the time of the merger, Frito-Lay owned 46 manufacturing plants nationwide and had more than 150 distribution centers across the United States.
The merger was pursued for multiple factors, one of which was the potential for Frito-Lay snacks to be distributed outside of its initial markets of the United States and Canada—via Pepsi-Cola's existing presence and distribution network in 108 countries at the time of the merger. International distribution of Frito-Lay products expanded shortly following the 1965 merger, and its U.S. presence grew at the same time, resulting in
Lay'sLay's is the brand name for a number of potato chip varieties as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in 1932. Lay's chips has been marketed as a division of Frito-Lay, a company owned by PepsiCo since 1965...
becoming the first potato chip brand to be sold nationwide (in all 50 U.S. states) in 1965.
Also at this time, PepsiCo had envisioned marketing Frito-Lay snacks alongside Pepsi-Cola soft drinks. In an interview with
ForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
in 1968, PepsiCo CEO Donald Kendall summarized this by noting that "Potato chips make you thirsty; Pepsi satisfies thirst." Plans to jointly promote the soft drink and snack products were averted later that year, with the
Federal Trade CommissionThe Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
ruling against it.
1965 – 1980
Upon the formation of PepsiCo, Frito-Lay still maintained the same brand and product line-up that it had four years prior, consisting of Fritos, Lay's, Cheetos, Ruffles, and Rold Gold pretzels. It soon began efforts to expand with the development of new snack food brands in the 1960s and 1970s, including
DoritosDoritos is a brand of seasoned tortilla chips created by Arch West and produced since 1964 by the American food company Frito-Lay ....
(1967),
FunyunsFunyuns is the brand name of an onion-flavored corn snack introduced in the United States in 1969. While consisting primarily of cornmeal, Funyuns are ring-shaped, alluding to the shape and texture of fried onion rings...
(1969) and
MunchosMunchos are a Frito-Lay brand potato chip snack. Though originally marketed as being otherwise, the current incarnations of Munchos are actually thinner than most potato chips, to the point of being slightly transparent and containing air pockets...
(1971). The most popular new Frito-Lay product launched during this era was Doritos, which initially was positioned as a more flavorful
tortilla chipA tortilla chip is a snack food made from corn tortillas, which are cut into wedges and then fried . Corn tortillas are made of corn, vegetable oil, salt and water. Although first mass-produced in Los Angeles in the late 1940s, tortilla chips are considered to be a Mexican food, known as tostados...
. At first the chip was perceived by consumers as being too bland. In response, the company re-launched Doritos in Taco, and later Nacho Cheese, flavors. The spicier composition proved successful, and Doritos quickly became the second most popular Frito-Lay product line, second only to Lay's potato chips.
Frito-Lay faced increased competition in the 1970s, from competing potato chip brands such as
PringlesPringles is a brand of potato and wheat based snacks originally developed by Procter & Gamble. Pringles are sold in more than 140 countries and have yearly sales of more than...
, launched by Proctor & Gamble in competition with Lay's.
NabiscoNabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
and
Standard BrandsStandard Brands was formed in 1929 by J.P. Morgan with the merger of:*Fleischmann Company*Royal Baking Powder Company*E. W. Gillett*Widlar Food Products Company*Chase & Sanborn Coffee Company...
also expanded in the 1970s to produce potato chips, cheese curls and pretzels, which placed added pressure across Frito-Lay's entire line of snack food brands.
1980 – 2000
Frito-Lay acquired Grandma's Cookies in 1980, which launched nationwide in the United States in 1983. In 1981, it created and launched a new product,
TostitosTostitos is a brand of tortilla chips and dips produced by Frito-Lay and introduced in 1979, with national distribution in the United States reached in 1981. They are made from all-white corn. Traditionally, Tostitos chips contain no extra flavoring or preservatives, and thus are advertised to be...
, intended to be a tortilla chip meant for dipping in
salsaSalsa may refer to any type of sauce. In American English, it usually refers to the spicy, often tomato based, hot sauces typical of Mexican and Central American cuisine, particularly those used as dips. In British English, the word typically refers to salsa cruda, which is common in Mexican ,...
or other chip dips. Tostitos sales grew quickly, and in 1985 it had become Frito-Lay's fifth-largest brand, generating annual sales of $200 million. Ahead of Tostitos at the time were Doritos, Lay's, Fritos and Ruffles, each recording annual sales between $250 and $500 million. While Tostitos became a long-term success, several other new products launched in the 1980s were discontinued after lackluster results. These short lived Frito-Lay products included Stuffers pre-filled dip shells and Toppels crackers, which came pre-topped with cheese. In the late 1980s, Frito-Lay acquired
SmartfoodSmartfood Popcorn is a white cheddar cheese-flavored popcorn offered by the Frito-Lay company.-History: Smartfood, first created in 1985 by Andrew Martin, Ken Meyers, and Martin's wife Ann Withey in Hampton, Connecticut. It was intended to fill recloseable packages that Martin and his business...
, a brand of cheese-flavored
popcornPopcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...
which it began to distribute across the United States. International sales began to increase significantly at this time as well, with annual revenues from sales outside of the U.S. and Canada accounting for $500 million in 1989, contributing to total Frito-Lay sales of $3.5 billion in the same year.
Several new products were developed internally at Frito-Lay and launched in the 1990s, the most successful of which was
Sun ChipsSun Chips is a brand of sun baked, rippled, multigrain chips launched in 1991 and produced by Frito-Lay....
, a multi-grain chip first sold in 1991. Sun Chips, along with new Baked (instead of
friedFrying is the cooking of food in oil or another fat, a technique that originated in ancient Egypt around 2500 BC. Chemically, oils and fats are the same, differing only in melting point, but the distinction is only made when needed. In commerce, many fats are called oils by custom, e.g...
) variants of Tostitos and Lay's, represented Frito-Lay's intent to capitalize on an emerging trend among adults in the U.S., who were displaying a growing preference for healthier snack alternatives. In 1994, Frito-Lay recorded annual retail sales of nearly $5 billion, selling 8 billion bags of chips,
popcornPopcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...
and pretzels during that year—outpacing competitors Eagle (owned by
Anheuser-BuschAnheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the...
) and
Wise- Wise Foods Inc.:Wise Foods, Inc. is a private company based in Berwick, Pennsylvania, that makes and sells snacks through retail food outlets in 15 eastern seaboard states as well as Vermont, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C...
(owned by Borden).
Up until the mid-1990s, Frito-Lay was represented in PepsiCo's organizational structure as Frito-Lay, a single division of PepsiCo. This changed in 1996 when PepsiCo merged its snack food operations into what was titled the "Frito-Lay Company", made up of two subsequent divisions,
Frito-Lay North America and
Frito-Lay International. In 1997, Frito-Lay acquired the candied popcorn snack brand
Cracker JackCracker Jack is a U.S. brand of snack consisting of strong molasses flavored candy-coated popcorn and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of nominal value inside. Some food historians consider it the first junk food...
, followed in 1998 by multiple international acquisitions and joint ventures, including Smith's Snackfood Company (
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
), as well as Savoy Brands (
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
).
Recent history (2000 – present)
In the early 2000s, PepsiCo continued to grow its Frito-Lay brands in two ways—through international expansion and acquisition. Through a joint-venture with
WalkersWalkers is a British snack food manufacturer operating mainly in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and to a lesser extent on the European continent. They are best known for manufacturing crisps. They hold 47 per cent of the British crisp market...
, a U.K. chip and snack manufacturing company, Frito-Lay increased its distribution presence in Europe. Similar joint-ventures were arranged in other regions of the world in the 2000s, including
Smith'sThe Smith's Snackfood Company is a company best known for producing and selling a range of snack food such as crisps. It is now owned by New York based company PepsiCo.-Smiths in the UK:...
in Australia, and
Sabritas- History :Sabritas was founded in 1943 by Pedro Antonio Marcos Noriega as Golosinas y Productos Selectos in Mexico City. It produced and sold potato chips, corn chips and snacks, however it relied on a small distribution network which was mostly bicycle-based...
and
GamesaGamesa is Mexico's largest manufacturer of cookies . The company also makes pasta, flour, ready to eat cereals and other related products. It is headquartered in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, and have production facilities in eight states across Mexico and one in Colombia...
in Mexico. As a result of these international arrangements, some global Frito-Lay products (such as Doritos) are branded under the same name worldwide. Others maintain their original name within North and South America, while being branded under region-specific names in other parts of the world. For example,
Lay'sLay's is the brand name for a number of potato chip varieties as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in 1932. Lay's chips has been marketed as a division of Frito-Lay, a company owned by PepsiCo since 1965...
chips are branded as Walkers Crisps in the U.K.
The
Quaker Oats CompanyThe Quaker Oats Company is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by Pepsico since 2001.-History:Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four oat mills:...
merged with PepsiCo in 2001, resulting in Quaker snacks products, including Chewy granola bars and Quaker rice cakes, becoming organized under the Frito-Lay North America operating division. This operating structure was short-lived, and in 2003, as part of a restructuring, the international operations of Frito-Lay (formerly Frito-Lay International) were brought within the PepsiCo International division, while Frito-Lay North America was maintained as its own division, comprising Frito-Lay business within the United States and Canada.
Frito-Lay continued to experiment with changes to the composition of its products, introducing Reduced Fat Lay's and Cheetos in 2002. The "Baked" product line also expanded in 2002 to include Baked Doritos. In 2003, Frito-Lay introduced the first products in its "Natural" line, which were made with ingredients that had been organically produced. The first of these included Organic Blue Corn Tostitos, Natural Lay's Potato Chips (seasoned with
sea saltSea salt, salt obtained by the evaporation of seawater, is used in cooking and cosmetics. It is historically called bay salt or solar salt...
), and Natural Cheetos White Cheddar Puffs.
A new CEO,
Irene RosenfeldIrene Blecker Rosenfeld is an American businesswoman, who is the current CEO and Chairwoman of Kraft Foods.-Early life and education:...
, was appointed in 2005. Under her management, Frito-Lay North America continued to expand its product lines with acquisitions such as Stacy's Pita Chip Company, which represented "Frito-Lay's desire to participate more broadly in the $90 billion macrosnack category", particularly involving snack foods made with more natural ingredients, according to reports from within its industry at that time. In 2010, Frito-Lay reformulated Lay's Kettle and Lay's flavored chips into a new variant labeled as being made with all-natural ingredients. Sales of Lay's potato chips grew by 8% following the change to all-natural ingredients. As a result, Frito-Lay announced in 2010 its plans to convert approximately half of all Frito-Lay products, including Sun Chips, Tostitos, Fritos and Rold Gold pretzels, to all-natural ingredients in 2011.
Controversies and health concerns
In 1967, the company introduced a cartoon spokesman, the Frito, which became the subject of criticism from Mexican-American groups, who expressed concerns that it portrayed a Mexican
stereotypeA stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
. The Frito Bandito (voiced by
Mel BlancMelvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
) wore a
sombreroSombrero in English refers to a type of wide-brimmed hat originating in Mexico. In Spanish, however, it is the generic word for "hat", which originates from "sombra", meaning "shade"....
and
bandolierA bandolier or a bandoleer is a pocketed belt for holding ammunition. It was usually slung over the chest. In its original form, it was common issue to soldiers from the 16th to 18th centuries. This was very useful for quickly reloading a musket....
s, had a
handlebar moustacheA handlebar moustache is a moustache with particularly lengthy, upward curved, extremities. It is named for its resemblance to the handlebars of a bicycle. It is also known as a "spaghetti moustache", because of its stereotypical association with Italian men...
and brandished pistols. Protests from advocacy groups such as The
National Mexican-American Anti-Defamation CommitteeThe National Mexican-American Anti-Defamation Committee was a lobbying group which pushed Frito-Lay to get rid of the Frito Bandito in the early 1970s. It was most active from 1968 to 1971....
(NMAADC) prompted some initial concessions, such as the removal of the pistols and a thinning of the accent. The Frito Bandito was replaced in 1970 by The Muncha Bunch, and then again by a new cartoon called W.C. Fritos (based on W.C. Fields).
In the late 1990s, the use of
genetically modified organismsA GMO is a genetically modified organism.GMO may also refer to:* Gell-Mann–Okubo mass formula in particle physics* General Medical Officer, a designation for United States Army soldiers* Generalised molecular orbital theory, in chemistry...
(GMOs) was rising as a farming practice, as it made for the growth of larger (and thus less expensive to produce) corn crops. Environmental groups voiced concern over their perceived health and environmental risks involved with the production and consumption of products made with GMOs. Frito-Lay, due in part to its leverage as one of the world's largest purchasers of
cornCorn is the name used in the United States, Canada, and Australia for the grain maize.In much of the English-speaking world, the term "corn" is a generic term for cereal crops, such as* Barley* Oats* Wheat* Rye- Places :...
, became the target of lobbying efforts from both proponents and opponents of GMOs. In late 1999, Frito-Lay asked its suppliers not to use genetically engineered corn. A similar announcement followed in early 2000, when the company asked its farmers not to grow genetically modified potatoes. Frito-Lay stated these requests were made in response to consumers' worries, and not in response to protests by the OCA,
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
or other groups. A representative of
GreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
expressed the perspective that this move was a positive step, stating, "Frito-Lay is about two-thirds of PepsiCo's sales. They realize the handwriting is on the wall and that people don't want to eat GMOs".
Amid rising concerns over
fatFats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
intake and trans-fat, fat content was reduced and trans-fat were eliminated from Doritos, Tostitos and Cheetos in 2004. The composition of Ruffles, Lay's and Fritos were not changed as these products had always been free of trans-fat.
Operations
As of 2010, Frito-Lay operates production plants, distribution centers and regional offices in more than 40 countries, with its
Frito-Lay North America headquarters residing in
Plano, TexasPlano is a city in the state of Texas, located mostly within Collin County. The city's population was 259,841 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth-largest city in Texas and the 71st most populous city in the United States. Plano is located within the metropolitan area commonly referred to as...
. Within North America, Frito-Lay owns (and in some cases, leases) approximately 1,830 distribution centers, warehouses and offices. The division also maintains 55 production plants. Its
PresidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
and
Chief Executive OfficerA chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
is Albert P. Carey.
North America
PepsiCo Americas Foods consists of PepsiCo's food and snack operations in North and South America. This operating division is further segmented into Frito-Lay North America, Sabritas, Gamesa and Latin Americas Foods. It also contains Quaker Foods North America, although no Frito-Lay products are sold or distributed under that business unit. Food and snack sales in North and South America combined made up 48 percent of PepsiCo’s net revenue as of 2009.
Frito-Lay North America is the division which controls Frito-Lay product research and development, sales and distribution within the U.S. and Canada. Its primary brands include
Lay'sLay's is the brand name for a number of potato chip varieties as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in 1932. Lay's chips has been marketed as a division of Frito-Lay, a company owned by PepsiCo since 1965...
and
RufflesRuffles is the name of a brand of ruffled potato chips produced by Frito-Lay. Frito Company acquired the rights to Ruffles brand potato chips in 1958....
potato chips,
DoritosDoritos is a brand of seasoned tortilla chips created by Arch West and produced since 1964 by the American food company Frito-Lay ....
tortilla chips,
TostitosTostitos is a brand of tortilla chips and dips produced by Frito-Lay and introduced in 1979, with national distribution in the United States reached in 1981. They are made from all-white corn. Traditionally, Tostitos chips contain no extra flavoring or preservatives, and thus are advertised to be...
tortilla chips and dips,
CheetosCheetos is a brand of cheese-flavored cornmeal snack made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the U.S. The initial success of Cheetos was a contributing factor to the merger between The Frito Company...
cheese flavored snacks,
FritosFritos is the name of a brand of corn chips made by Frito-Lay. Elmer Doolin was so taken with the bag of corn chips served with his lunch in San Antonio, Texas that he paid $100 for the recipe. In 1932, he started the Frito Corporation. Original Fritos ingredients are limited to whole corn, corn...
corn chips,
Rold GoldRold Gold refers to first a company and then a remaining brand of pretzels, now owned by Frito-Lay. The company, originally named the American Cone and Pretzel Company, was founded in 1917 by prominent Philadelphia businessman L.J. Schumaker....
pretzels,
Sun ChipsSun Chips is a brand of sun baked, rippled, multigrain chips launched in 1991 and produced by Frito-Lay....
and
Cracker JackCracker Jack is a U.S. brand of snack consisting of strong molasses flavored candy-coated popcorn and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of nominal value inside. Some food historians consider it the first junk food...
popcorn. Products made by this division are sold to independent distributors and retailers, and are transported from Frito-Lay's manufacturing plants to distribution centers, primarily in vehicles owned and operated by the company.
Sabritas and
Gamesa are two of PepsiCo’s food and snack business lines headquartered in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and they were acquired by PepsiCo in 1966 and 1990, respectively.
Sabritas- History :Sabritas was founded in 1943 by Pedro Antonio Marcos Noriega as Golosinas y Productos Selectos in Mexico City. It produced and sold potato chips, corn chips and snacks, however it relied on a small distribution network which was mostly bicycle-based...
markets Frito-Lay products, such as Cheetos, Fritos, Doritos and Ruffles, in Mexico. It also distributes local brands such as Poffets, Rancheritos, Crujitos and Sabritones.
GamesaGamesa is Mexico's largest manufacturer of cookies . The company also makes pasta, flour, ready to eat cereals and other related products. It is headquartered in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, and have production facilities in eight states across Mexico and one in Colombia...
is the largest manufacturer of cookies in Mexico, distributing brands such as Emperador, Arcoiris and Marías Gamesa.
Central and South America
PepsiCo’s
Latin Americas Foods sells Frito-Lay branded snack foods in Central and South America. Its portfolio of brands includes Lay's, Cheetos, Fritos and Doritos, as well as local brands such as Lucky snacks in Brazil.
Europe
Frito-Lay snacks are distributed in Europe under the
PepsiCo Europe operating division, previously PepsiCo International. Its products includes Walkers Crisps, Doritos, Paw Ridge, Smiths, Cheetos, Duyvis, Snack-a-Jacks, Looza, Twistos, and Solinki. PepsiCo maintains manufacturing plants in Europe, the largest of which are two snack manufacturing and processing plants located in Leicester, United Kingdom and Coventry, United Kingdom.
Asia, Middle East & Africa
Frito-Lay products sold under the
PepsiCo Asia, Middle East & Africa division represent the smallest (as of 2010) proportion on a revenue basis. However, its distribution is growing more quickly than Frito-Lay's primary markets. While the primary global Frito-Lay brands are sold in some parts of these regions, many snack food products have been created to match local taste and cultural preferences. In India, one of these is Kurkure Twisteez, a potato-based snack food produced in flavors popular in the country such as as "Masala Munch". Frito-Lay has also employed alternate distribution means in these regions. In South Africa, it hired delivery drivers who had grown up in their delivery areas, with the intent of "making the product seem less foreign".
Products
Through Frito-Lay, PepsiCo is the largest globally distributed snack food company in the world, with sales of its products in 2009 comprising 40 percent of all "savory snacks" sold in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and 30 percent of the non-U.S. market.
While the product catalog varies significantly by country, PepsiCo divides its snack products into two primary brand categories: those produced within North America, and those produced outside of North America. In certain regions of the world, the company's snack food products are produced under regionally specific names such as
Sabritas- History :Sabritas was founded in 1943 by Pedro Antonio Marcos Noriega as Golosinas y Productos Selectos in Mexico City. It produced and sold potato chips, corn chips and snacks, however it relied on a small distribution network which was mostly bicycle-based...
and
WalkersWalkers is a British snack food manufacturer operating mainly in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and to a lesser extent on the European continent. They are best known for manufacturing crisps. They hold 47 per cent of the British crisp market...
.
The primary snack food brands and products produced under the Frito-Lay name include
FritosFritos is the name of a brand of corn chips made by Frito-Lay. Elmer Doolin was so taken with the bag of corn chips served with his lunch in San Antonio, Texas that he paid $100 for the recipe. In 1932, he started the Frito Corporation. Original Fritos ingredients are limited to whole corn, corn...
corn chips,
CheetosCheetos is a brand of cheese-flavored cornmeal snack made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the U.S. The initial success of Cheetos was a contributing factor to the merger between The Frito Company...
cheese-flavored snacks,
DoritosDoritos is a brand of seasoned tortilla chips created by Arch West and produced since 1964 by the American food company Frito-Lay ....
and
TostitosTostitos is a brand of tortilla chips and dips produced by Frito-Lay and introduced in 1979, with national distribution in the United States reached in 1981. They are made from all-white corn. Traditionally, Tostitos chips contain no extra flavoring or preservatives, and thus are advertised to be...
tortilla chips,
Lay'sLay's is the brand name for a number of potato chip varieties as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in 1932. Lay's chips has been marketed as a division of Frito-Lay, a company owned by PepsiCo since 1965...
potato chips,
RufflesRuffles is the name of a brand of ruffled potato chips produced by Frito-Lay. Frito Company acquired the rights to Ruffles brand potato chips in 1958....
chips and Walker's potato crisps (Europe)—each of which generated annual worldwide sales over $1 billion in 2009. Frito-Lay also comprises multiple brands outside of the chip category, including
Rold GoldRold Gold refers to first a company and then a remaining brand of pretzels, now owned by Frito-Lay. The company, originally named the American Cone and Pretzel Company, was founded in 1917 by prominent Philadelphia businessman L.J. Schumaker....
pretzels,
Cracker JackCracker Jack is a U.S. brand of snack consisting of strong molasses flavored candy-coated popcorn and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of nominal value inside. Some food historians consider it the first junk food...
popcorn snacks and TrueNorth nut clusters and nut crisps.
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