Hollis Johnson
Women don't like to lick their fingers as generously as men when eating chips, PepsiCo's CEO says.
- Indra Nooyi, CEO of Frito-Lay parent company PepsiCo, told Freakonomics Radio that it is looking at creating special chips just for women.
- She said the new chips will be designed and packaged differently to reduce the crunch and limit the amount of flavor that gets stuck on consumers' fingers.
The owner of Cheetos and Doritos could be about to solve one of the greatest food dilemmas of our time.
In a recent interview with Freakonomics Radio, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said that the company is looking at ways to develop women-friendly chips that do not leave flavor residue on fingers and have a less audible crunch.
According to Nooyi, these are two traits of its chips that women don't like.
"As you watch a lot of the young guys eat the chips, they love their Doritos, and they lick their fingers with great glee, and when they reach the bottom of the bag they pour the little broken pieces into their mouth, because they don't want to lose that taste of the flavor, and the broken chips in the bottom," Nooyi told Freakonomics.
She said: "Women I think would love to do the same, but they don't. They don't like to crunch too loudly in public. And they don't lick their fingers generously and they don't like to pour the little broken pieces and the flavor into their mouth."
The orange residue left behind by some of Frito-Lay's chips, especially Cheetos, is such a big phenomenon that it even has its own entry in the dictionary: Cheeto Fingers.
It even has its own entry on Urban Dictionary: "The obvious sign that you have been previously consuming Cheetos. Identified by oddly red or orange coloring to the the thumb, index finger, and middle finger."
In fact, it's such a problem for some people that there's a market for finger covers, which are designed to keep the orange dust at bay.
Amazon/Chipfingers These finger covers are sold for $8.99 on Amazon.
Pepsi is looking at ways to create a new snack that would be designed and packaged differently to combat these issues with its female customers in mind.
"For women, low-crunch, the full taste profile, not have so much of the flavor stick on the fingers, and how can you put it in a purse?" Nooyi said.
The company did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for additional comment.
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