Spicy dispute over the origins of Flamin' Hot Cheetos winds up in court
A court case could soon settle a spicy dispute: Who invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos?
A former PepsiCo executive is suing the company, saying it destroyed his career after questioning his claim that he invented the popular flavor of Cheetos snacks.
PepsiCo said Thursday it has no comment on the lawsuit, which was filed July 18 in California Superior Court.
According to his lawsuit, Richard MontaƱez began working for PepsiCo as a janitor at its Frito-Lay plant in Ranch Cucamonga, California, in 1977. MontaƱez was the son of a Mexican immigrant and grew up in a migrant labor camp.
One day, a machine in MontaƱezās plant broke down, leaving a batch of unflavored Cheetos. MontaƱez says he took the batch home and dusted them with chili powder, trying to replicate the flavor of elote, the popular grilled seasoned corn served in Mexico.
In 1991, MontaƱez asked for a meeting with PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico to pitch his spicy Cheetos, confident they would be a hit with the Latino community. Enrico granted the meeting, liked the presentation and directed the company to develop spicy Cheetos, according to the lawsuit.
MontaƱez said PepsiCo sent him on speaking engagements and actively promoted his story. But in the meantime, MontaƱez claims the companyās research and development department shut him out of its discussions and testing.
PepsiCo introduced Flaminā Hot Cheetos in 1992. MontaƱez says he continued to develop spicy snacks, like Flaminā Hot Popcorn and Lime and Chili Fritos, and in 2000 he was promoted to a business development manager in Southern California. MontaƱez eventually became PepsiCoās vice president of multicultural marketing and sales.
MontaƱez said demand for speaking engagements was so great that he retired from PepsiCo in 2019 to become a motivational speaker full time. He published a memoir in 2021 and his life story was made into a movie, āFlaminā Hot,ā in 2023.
But according to the lawsuit, PepsiCo turned on MontaƱez in 2021, cooperating with a Los Angeles Times piece that claimed others in the company were already working on spicy snacks when MontaƱez approached them, and that they ā not MontaƱez ā came up with the name, āFlaminā Hot.ā
MontaƱez said PepsiCoās about-face has hurt his speaking career and other potential opportunities, including a documentary about his life.
He is seeking damages for discrimination, fraud and defamation.