10 things you probably didn't know about Lay's potato chips
Tiana Attride
- Lay's potato chips come in over 200 flavors.
- The popular chips were first sold in 1930s out of the back of founder Herman W. Lay's car.
- The company has held contests allowing anyone to submit ideas for chip flavors — whoever thinks of the best one can win $1 million.
Lay's potato chips have been satisfying salty snack cravings for over 75 years.
Although you may be familiar with the taste of Lay's and its many flavors, you may not know much about the brand.
Here are some things you probably didn't know about Lay's potato chips.
Lay's chips were first sold from the back of a car.
After acquiring a potato-chip company in 1932, founder Herman W. Lay first sold his chips in Nashville, Tennessee.
In the early 1930s, while he was still working as a traveling salesman, Lay would sell the snack out of the back of his car on the road.
Lay's and Fritos went from competitors to partners.
Around the same time Lay started his chip company, C.E. Doolin acquired a corn-chip brand that would become Fritos. After competing for nearly 30 years, Lay's and Fritos merged to form Frito-Lay in 1961.
Four years later, the company merged again with Pepsi-Cola to create PepsiCo.
Lay's has created region-specific flavors for different parts of the US.
During a campaign called "Tastes of America," Lay's released eight flavors based on popular region-specific foods — like New England lobster roll in the Northeast and Cajun spice in the South.
Lay's flavors also vary from country to country.
Depending on where you are in the world, Lay's flavors will change to reflect popular foods and tastes in different countries.
In India, you can find flavors like Magic Masala. In Thailand, chips come in flavors like basil chicken and crab curry.
There are over 200 varieties of Lay's chips.
Lay's constantly mixes up their flavor lineup with over 200 varieties created to date.
The chips range from common flavors, like salt and vinegar and barbecue, to more unusual ones, like cappuccino, vegetable soup, and Beer 'n Brats.
As of 2018, Lay's gets its potatoes from 25 different states.
As of 2018, Frito-Lay buys its potatoes from 120 farms across 25 different states, Enjoli Francis and Eric Noll reported for ABC News.
Some of these states include Wisconsin, Maine, North Dakota, and Texas.
Sometimes Lay's offers a million bucks for great new flavor ideas.
Lay's has held several contests over the years to find the next great chip flavor, offering a $1 million prize to whoever submits the best new recipe.
Some of the flavors to come out of the contest include wasabi ginger, cheesy garlic bread, and Southern biscuits and gravy.
Lay's head flavor researcher has a long history as a restaurant chef.
Jody Denton, the executive research chef for Frito-Lay, has owned and worked at a variety of restaurants over the years including a Mediterranean bistro, an Asian-fusion restaurant, and Californian oyster bar.
Lay's chips were one of the first snack foods with televised commercials.
According to the company Facebook page, in 1944, Lay's became one of the first-ever snack-food brands to advertise its products on TV.
The Cowardly Lion from "The Wizard of Oz" was the first celebrity spokesperson for Lay's.
Bert Lahr, best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz" (1939), was Lay's first celebrity spokesperson.
He appeared in a number of Lay's advertisements and commercials during the 1960s in the popular "Betcha can't eat just one" campaign.
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