“The product was developed by those guys in the plant,” Carey added.įrito-Lay’s statement to the Times contradicts Carey’s recollection: “According to our records, McCormick, Frito-Lay’s longtime seasoning supplier, developed the Flamin’ Hot seasoning and sent initial samples to Frito-Lay on Dec. Carey said that Flamin’ Hot Cheetos were “definitely not out in the market” before he met with Montañez in 1992, who pitched him the idea. However, another former Frito-Lay executive, Al Carey, insisted to the Times that Montañez is the true creator of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. According to the Times, Enrico’s “move to Frito-Lay was announced in December 1990, and he took over control at the beginning of 1991 - nearly six months after Flamin’ Hots were already out in the test market.” “We value Richard’s many contributions to our company, especially his insights into Hispanic consumers, but we do not credit the creation of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or any Flamin’ Hot products to him,” Frito-Lay said in a statement to the Times.Īccording to Montañez’s story - which is documented in an upcoming memoir - he felt empowered to pitch his Flamin’ Hot idea to corporate after watching a motivational video from then-PepsiCo CEO, Roger Enrico, who encouraged all employees to “act like owners.”īut, the Times reports that Enrico did not yet work for the company when the Flamin’ Hot brand was developed. This triggered an internal investigation into the creation of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, with the conclusion alleging that Montañez is not the inventor. Montañez began to publicly tell his success story in the late 2000s, and Greenfeld contacted Frito-Lay in 2018 after hearing about his claims. Greenfeld came up with the name, and helped bring the product to markets all over the U.S. "CEO or janitor, act like you own the company.Instead, the Times article reports that a junior employee at Frito-Lay’s corporate office in Texas named Lynne Greenfeld was assigned to develop the Flamin’ Hot brand in 1989. "Don't take your position for granted, regardless of what that position may be," Montañez writes. The former janitor realizes that his life would probably look very different today had he not called up Enrico, and he uses that fact to inspire and encourage others. Fox Searchlight Pictures is even making a movie about his rags-to-riches story. He climbed his way up the corporate ladder within PepsiCo to executive level and now he gives motivational talks and presents to companies on the importance of diversity in business. Montañez's career took off after the presentation. Today, the spicy version of the classic snack is one of Frito-Lay's most popular items and has evolved into a cultural phenomenon. "They were amazed at the product design," he recalls, and Flamin' Hot Cheetos was born. Montañez headed straight to the library to check out books on marketing, designed a unique bag to package his product and walked into the meeting wearing a $3 tie. Enrico then gave Montañez two weeks to prepare a presentation for the company executives. He got the CEO's assistant on the line, who helped put him through to the CEO. He decided to do just that: "I called him up, not knowing you weren't supposed to call the CEO." After all, the CEO at the time, Roger Enrico, had sent out a video "telling all employees he wanted them to take ownership of the company," Montañez writes. His friends and family liked the taste, so he decided to pitch the product to the CEO. Montañez took the plain Cheetos home and experimented with putting chili powder on them, an idea inspired by a street vendor in his neighborhood, who made Mexican grilled corn with lime and chili. The idea for Flamin' Hot Cheetos came to him when, one day, a machine broke in the assembly line and a batch of Cheetos didn't get dusted with their standard orange cheese powder. He returned the application later that day and the company hired him as a janitor. He went to the Frito-Lay plant in Southern California, asked for an application and had his future wife fill it out on his behalf, since he "could barely read or write," he recalls. He was working at a car wash when a friend came by and told him that Frito-Lay was hiring. "I learned at that moment that there was something special about being different, that there was a reason that we all just couldn't fit into the same box," Montañez writes.Īfter struggling to pick up on basic reading and writing in school, Montañez dropped out before getting his diploma and worked a series of low-paying jobs, including slaughtering chickens and gardening.
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