Who Invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos? Credit Feud Erupts Between Frito-Lay And Ex-Janitor

A public feud has erupted between a former PepsiCo, Inc. PEP janitor who rose through the ranks to become an executive and his former employer over who deserves credit for inventing the Frito-Lay Flamin’ Hot Cheetos snack food line.

One Side of the Story: Richard Montañez has offered the story that he was responsible for creating the product when he was a janitor at Frito-Lay’s facility in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

In Montañez’s version, the company encouraged its workforce to offer ideas for new products, and Montañez responded by adding a homemade mix of spices to the traditional Cheetos offering. Montañez stated he made two in-person pitches to executives at Frito-Lay and parent company PepsiCo.

In an interview with Variety, Montañez said that “instead of just writing the idea on a piece of paper and sending it. They would forward over those products to the appropriate people and I didn’t know, because I was just a frontline worker.”

Over time, Montañez was promoted through the PepsiCo ranks, ultimately becoming vice president of multicultural sales and community promotions for PepsiCo before retiring in 2019.

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The Other Side of the Story: Montañez used his rags-to-riches career trajectory and his claim of Flamin' Hot inventor as the basis for a second career as a motivational speaker. He has written two autobiographies and his life is the basis of a new film being directed by Eva Longoria and starring Jessie Garcia as Montañez.

However, a May 16 investigative piece in the Los Angeles Times debunked Montañez’s claims. The Times’ piece detailed the Flamin’ Hot snacks were already in retail channels when Montañez claimed to have pitched executives on his idea, and credit for the creation of the snack belonged to three people working in the sales and product development departments.

“We have interviewed multiple personnel who were involved in the test market, and all of them indicate that Richard was not involved in any capacity in the test market,” said Frito-Lay in a statement to the Times. “That doesn’t mean we don’t celebrate Richard, but the facts do not support the urban legend.”

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So, Who’s Right?: The Times’ investigation uncovered the earliest press coverage of Montañez’s claims via a 1993 U.S. News and World Report article that said he “burst forth with a kernel of an idea: Flamin’ Hot Popcorn, which will soon make its debut.”

Frito-Lay began investigating Montañez’s public claims in 2018 when one of the former employees involved in the Flamin’ Hot product development saw an interview with Montañez in Esquire.

Montañez is standing by his story, noting the lack of documentation on his alleged role in the product’s creation was a result of his original lower-tier job and his lack of familiarity with how the corporate process worked. He also questioned why the company is now seeking to discredit him.

“I was their greatest ambassador,” Montañez said to Variety. “But I will say this: you’re going to love your company more than they will ever love you. Keep that in perspective.”

The Times’ report stated the producers of the upcoming film on Montañez were informed by Frito-Lay regarding the incident in 2019, but opted to continue with the project.

(Photo courtesy of Cheetos.)