These Aren’t Your Parents’ Doritos

By: Bill McCool

If you want to have your food sold at Whole Foods, it must be free of artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners, and hydrogenated fats.

So, basically, no Doritos.

And while you won’t find Doritos in the chip aisle during your next Whole Foods outing, there’s a good chance that day is on the horizon as Frito-Lay has introduced an organic line of chips to capture the hearts and minds of health-conscious shoppers.

Featuring eleven different flavors, most of Frito-Lay’s core offerings like Tostitos and Doritos are available and in an effort to capture the attention of those health-minded consumers, they’ve called their new organic line, “Simply.”

If it seems like they’re beating consumers over the heads by using phrases like “pure delicious” on their bags, it’s very much intentional and a necessary strategy to sway leery consumers. Gone is the laundry list of fine-printed artificial flavors, replaced by a very official-looking USDA Organic insignia, a near double take inducing sight if there ever was one. Viewed side-by-side with a regular bag of Doritos, one might assume that they managed to suck all of the flavor from the organic version.

And this leads to a much larger question - can Frito-Lay staples like Cheetos and Doritos ever be considered anything more than just simply junk food?

The answer to that question is likely irrelevant as Frito-Lay must adapt to a new set of circumstances in the food industry. According to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), organic food sales totaled almost $47 billion in 2016, and continue to steadily rise. It’s no surprise that this division of PepsiCo Inc. is looking to diversify and gain traction with healthier consumers. Millennials, in particular, are more health conscious and want to eat foods that are not only organic but have been sustainably made.

Interestingly enough, Frito-Lay's Simply products are currently available on Amazon and with their recent acquisition of Whole Foods, it wouldn’t be all that shocking if a bag of Simply Cheetos found its way onto one of their shelves.

It’s clear that Amazon is attempting to disrupt the grocery landscape and grow their own Prime Pantry offerings. Joining forces with Whole Foods gives them a greater foothold in the supermarket industry as they continue to slash prices.

For now, Frito-Lay plans on developing even more organic chips and will to continue to woo Whole Foods with their wholesome offerings.

No word yet on whether Frito-Lay will introduce an organic line of Funyuns, but many fingers remain crossed.

Bill McCoolBill McCool is a freelance writer based out of Los Angeles. Though new to the world of design, he has always been a storyteller by trade and he seeks to inspire and cultivate a sense of awe with the work and artists he profiles. When he's not winning over his daughters with the art of the Dad joke, he is usually working on a pilot, watching the Phillies, or cooking an elaborate meal for his wife.