Americans love junk food, and we continue to fool ourselves into thinking that there is a magical solution that will allow us to eat as much as we want without gaining any weight. In 1998, Frito-Lay introduced WOW Chips, fat-free chips made with olestra--whose molecules acted like a laxative when people ate too much. Here's how Frito-Lay played chicken with a branding disaster.
Their new Arizona plant is a test case for every conceivable kind of sustainable upgrade to manufacturing. As they find out what works, they can move it to other factories, to keep pumping out delicious snacks.
Frito-Lay made a marketing blunder last year when it unveiled biodegradable SunChips bags that were louder than a subway train when rustled. Now the company has a solution. Feel free to (secretly) indulge in midnight snacking again.
Frito-Lay may have discontinued its 100% compostable packaging for most of the SunChips line in the U.S. (where the noise hurt sales), but the drama continues in Canada, where Frito-Lay has decided to keep the ultra-loud packaging--and to offer customers free earplugs.
Frito-Lay was heralded for becoming a sustainable purveyor of snacks last year. But the company is quietly bagging its green chip packaging after only 18 months.
At 95 decibels, the sound of the recently unveiled compostable Sun Chips bag is louder than a jet cockpit. And that's giving Frito-Lay a lot of free publicity.
