History of Doritos

Archibald C. West is credited with inventing the triangular corn chips called Doritos, which means ‘little bits of gold’ in Spanish. He was an executive vice president of Frito-Ly Inc.

The story began when Arch West passed by Casa de Fritos and noticed customers eating the chips. He reportedly diverted money from other budgets for quiet research on a new product line, which eventually became Doritos after higher ups failed to share his enthusiasm for this variants of corn chips.  He asked the Morales family to mass produce them.

West presented his bosses with a plan to market tortilla chips for national release, with Alex Foods its maker. Frito-Lay bought all the equipment the Morales family needed to make chips.

The name was likely elected because it rhymed with Cheetos another popular snack food manufactured by Frito-Lay.

Arch West and David Pace, the inventor of Pace picante sauce, realized that if they displayed their products together, they’d both sell more.

Doritos brand tortilla chips were releases in 1966, the forts tortilla chip launched nationally.

By 2010, the chip beloved by everyone from toddlers and teenagers to stoners and the infirm was earning Frito-Lay $5 billion a year.
History of Doritos