Doritos is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo.[2][3] The concept for Doritos originated at Disneyland at a restaurant managed by Frito-Lay.
In 1966, Doritos became the first tortilla chip available nationally in the United States. The initial flavor was simply toasted corn, followed by taco in 1967, and the now-ubiquitous nacho cheese in 1972.[4] The chips are available worldwide in a wide variety of flavors, differing regionally.
Doritos has also gained notability for its marketing campaigns, including ads aired during Super Bowls. The Doritos brand is also used for similarly seasoned products, like Doritos 3D and taco shells at Taco Bell, where they're used in Doritos Locos Tacos.
History
The term dorito is a contraction of Spanish doradito (little golden [thing]), which is a diminutive of dorado (golden [thing]).
The original product was made at the Casa de Fritos (now Rancho Del Zocalo) at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, during the early 1960s. Using surplus tortillas and, the company-owned restaurant cut them into smaller pieces, fried them, and added basic seasoning. Arch West was the vice president of marketing of Frito-Lay at the time, and noticed their popularity. He made a deal in 1964 with Alex Foods, the provider of many items for Casa de Fritos at Disneyland, and produced the chips for a short time regionally, before it was overwhelmed by the volume, and Frito-Lay moved the production in-house to its Tulsa plant.[5][6]
Doritos were released nationwide in 1966, the first tortilla chip to be launched nationally in the United States.[7]
According to Information Resources International, in 1993, Doritos earned $1.2 billion in retail sales, one-third of the total Frito-Lay sales for the year.
The company was sued in 1993 by Charles Grady, who claimed that his throat had been damaged while eating Doritos. According to his lawsuit, the shape and rigidity of the chips made them inherently dangerous.[8] Grady attempted to admit into evidence a study by a former chemistry professor that calculated how best to safely swallow the chips. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court later ruled that the study did not meet scientific standards and could not be presented as evidence.
In the costliest redesign in Frito-Lay history, in 1994 the company spent $50 million to redesign Doritos. Roger J. Berdusco, the vice president of tortilla chip marketing, said a primary reason for the change was "greater competition from restaurant-style tortilla chips, that are larger and more strongly seasoned".[9] The design change was the result of a two-year market research study that involved 5,000 chip eaters. The new design made the chips 20% larger, 15% thinner, and gave each chip rounded corners, making it easier to eat and reducing the scrap resulting from broken corners. Each chip was also given more seasoning, resulting in a stronger flavor. The redesigned chips were released in four flavors beginning in January 1995.[9]
In the United States, Frito-Lay eliminated trans fat from all Doritos varieties in 2002. The same year, the Doritos brand began complying with the Food and Drug Administration labeling regulations, four years before the regulations became mandatory.[10]
In 2005, sales of Doritos in the United States fell by 1.7% to $595 million. To increase sales in 2006, the company launched several new flavors, a new label, and more bilingual advertising. Frito-Lay vice president Joe Ennen described this as "the most significant rebranding and relaunch in Doritos' 38-year history."[11]
On February 21, 2013, the Doritos logo was changed again,[12] and the advertising slogan "for the bold" was adopted.[13]
In 2015, Doritos introduced a limited edition Rainbow Doritos product, which were only available to those making a minimum donation of $10 to the It Gets Better Project, a non-profit organization that supports LGBT youth.[14] The promotion raised $100,000 for the organization, despite some controversy.[15]
Ingredients
The original plain chips (Toasted Corn, a discontinued US variety as of 2019, but available in the UK branded as 'Lightly Salted') are made of ground corn (maize), vegetable oil, and salt. Other ingredients vary across the flavored chip varieties. Doritos made for the US market generally do not use pork-derived animal rennet in the making of the cheese flavorings used on the chip.[16]
In 1996, The Onion, a satirical newspaper and website, featured an article with the headline "Doritos Celebrates One Millionth Ingredient", lampooning Frito-Lay for the sheer number of ingredients found in Doritos.[18]
Concerns have been raised that the oils, flavorings and additives used in Doritos and other Frito-Lay products may be unhealthy.[19]
- Nacho Cheese Doritos ingredients (U.S.), in order of percent of product: whole corn, vegetable oil (corn, soybean, and/or sunflower oil), salt, cheddar cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), maltodextrin, whey
Flavors
Doritos are sold in many countries worldwide in assorted flavors. They launched nationally in the United States in 1966,[7] with only one flavor: Toasted Corn. The product proved successful, but additional market research revealed that many consumers outside the Southwest and West considered the chip to be too bland and not spicy enough for what was perceived as a Mexican snack. Frito-Lay therefore developed taco-flavored Doritos, which also became successful after they were introduced nationally in 1967. National distribution of nacho cheese-flavored Doritos began in 1972, and they were also popular.[20] In 1978, Sour Cream and Onion flavored Doritos were introduced, but were discontinued in the early 1980s. A Sesame seed flavored chip was also available for a short time during 1978–79.[21] Around 1985, the original taco flavor recipe was altered to include a sour cream flavoring. In 1986, Cool Ranch Doritos made their debut and also became popular.[20] Cool Ranch Doritos are sold under the name "Cool Original" in the UK and are called "Cool American" elsewhere in Europe, as ranch dressing is less common in those places.[22]
Marketing
The brand's marketing campaigns have included many television commercials featuring Avery Schreiber,[37] Jay Leno,[3] and Ali Landry,[38] as well as product placement in movies, such as Wayne's World.[39]
Super Bowl
For many years, Doritos advertised heavily during the Super Bowl. According to Thomas L. Harris's Value-Added Public Relations, "the most-used single video news release of 1995" was a Doritos Super Bowl Commercial featuring recently defeated US state governors Mario Cuomo and Ann Richards.
Doritos 3D
Doritos 3D is a line of puffed Doritos originally introduced in 1998 and discontinued in the United States in 2004.[63] These snacks have been described as "Doritos-meets-Bugles".[64] Flavors included Jalapeño Cheddar, Nacho Cheese and Zesty Ranch.[65] The Doritos 3D line of puffed Doritos is still sold in Mexico.[66] On December 21, 2020, it was announced that Doritos 3D would be returning to shelves on December 28. The snack is now available in Chili Cheese Nacho and Spicy Ranch flavors.[63][67]
See also
Bibliography
External links
References
- Doritos: Another Level The Drum, retrieved January 6, 2026^
- T. Rees Shapiro. Arch West, 97, Invented Doritos for Frito-Lay Washington Post, September 26, 2011, retrieved August 26, 2017^
- PepsiCo's History Timeline