Frito Lays

Frito-Lay, Inc.

Sun Chips™ Multigrain Snacks

In mid-1990, Dr. Dwight R. Riskey, Vice-President of Marketing Research and New

Business at Frito-Lay, Inc. assembled the product management team responsible for

Sun Chips™ Multigrain Snacks. The purpose of the all-day meeting was to prepare a presentation to senior Frito-Lay executives on future action pertaining to the brand. Sun Chips™ Multigrain Snacks is a crispy, textured snack chip consisting of a special blend of whole wheat, corn, rice, and oat flours with a lightly salty multigrain taste and a slightly sweet aftertaste. The product contains less sodium than most snack chips and is made with canola or sunflower oil. The chip is approximately 50 percent lower in saturated fats than chips made with other cooking oils and is cholesterol free. According to a Frito-Lay executive, it is “a thoughtful, upscale classy chip.” The product had been in test market for 10 months in the Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota, and metropolitan area. Even though it appeared consumer response was extremely favorable, Riskey and his associates knew their presentation to senior Frito- Lay executives would have to be persuasive. In addition to presenting a thorough assessment of test-market data, Riskey added: We will have to do heavy-duty selling [to top executives] because Sun Chips™ Multigrain Snacks required a new manufacturing process, carried a new brand name, and pioneered a new snack chip category. There is a huge capital investment and a huge marketing investment that could be financially justified only with a product that could be sustainable for an extended time period.

FRITO-LAY, INC.

Frito-Lay, Inc. is a division of PepsiCo, Inc., a New York–based diversified consumer goods and services firm. Other PepsiCo, Inc. divisions include Pizza Hut, Inc., Taco Bell Corporation, Pepsi-Cola Company, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and PepsiCo Foods International. PepsiCo, Inc. recorded net income of $1.077 billion on net sales of $17.8...