In the costliest redesign in Frito-Lay history, in 1994 the company spent $50 million to redesign Doritos. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court later ruled that the study did not meet scientific standards and could not be presented as evidence. Grady attempted to admit into evidence a study by a former chemistry professor that calculated how best to safely swallow the chips. According to his lawsuit, the shape and rigidity of the chips made them inherently dangerous. The company was sued in 1993 by Charles Grady, who claimed that his throat had been damaged while eating Doritos. Īccording 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. ĭoritos were released nationwide in 1966, the first tortilla chip to be launched nationally in the United States. 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. Arch West was the vice president of marketing of Frito-Lay at the time, and noticed their popularity.

Using surplus tortillas and taking the original idea from the traditional Mexican snack known as totopo, the company-owned restaurant cut them up, fried them, and added basic seasoning, resembling the Mexican chilaquiles, but in this case being dry. The original product was made at the Casa de Fritos (now Rancho Del Zocalo) at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, during the early 1960s. The term dorito is a contraction of Spanish doradito (little fried and golden thing), which is a diminutive of dorado (fried and golden thing). The Doritos brand is also used for similarly-seasoned products, like Doritos 3D and taco shells at Taco Bell. Now, the chips are available in a wide variety of flavors, differing regionally.ĭoritos has also gained notability for its marketing campaigns, including many ads aired during the Super Bowl. The initial flavor was simply toasted corn, followed by taco in 1967, and the now-ubiquitous nacho cheese in 1972. In 1966, Doritos became the first tortilla chip available nationally in the United States. The concept for Doritos originated at Disneyland at a restaurant managed by Frito-Lay. Doritos ( / d ə ˈ r iː t oʊ z/) is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo.

Doritos roulette almost killed me