Carey maintains Montañez pitched him an idea for a spicy Cheeto that he approved and rolled out in California. But she and other former employees say Montañez did pitch flavors and product ideas. We spoke to Lynne Greenfeld, who led the team that created the Midwest products. By that time, products had already been sold in the Midwest under the trademark Flamin' Hot. According to Patti Rueff, the person who set up that meeting, and Al Carey, a former executive who was in the meeting, it could not have happened before 1992. Montañez told us he pitched an idea for hot Cheetos in a meeting in 1990. įirst, the timeline laid out in our episode is incorrect. PepsiCo, parent company of Frito-Lay, has since released a statement saying it "can't draw a clear link between" the California and Midwest efforts. However, our reporting shows he was involved in pitching a similar product in California. He wasn't involved in developing that product. This is inaccurate.īottom line: Hot Cheetos were on the market in the Midwest before Montañez ever pitched an idea for hot Cheetos. He claimed he and his wife inspired the seasoning that led to the chip we find on store shelves to this day. This episode centers on a claim that Richard Montañez invented a product that came to be known as Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesĮditor's note: We want to tell you more about this episode that we've learned since we first released it:
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