PepsiCo creates Flamin’ Hot brand to highlight fast-growing chip flavor

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PepsiCo has established Flamin’ Hot as its own brand within the beverage and snacking giant’s portfolio, the company said on Thursday.

The Doritos and Cheetos maker said the Flamin’ Hot brand will make it easier for consumers to identify the offerings. The Flamin’ Hot portfolio, which generated more than $3 billion in retail sales, will initially include 25 unique products.

As part of the move, PepsiCo also is introducing new packaging for each brand’s Flamin’ Hot offering.

The bottom two-thirds of the Flamin’ Hot bag contains a chip centered against a black backdrop. The color was chosen “to play into the edgy attitudes that brand fans demonstrate on a daily basis, and to stand out in the snack aisle where black packaging is lacking,” PepsiCo said. The top portion of the black design contains flames burning upward.

The first flavors to debut the new look are: Flamin’ Hot Funyuns, Flamin’ Hot Fritos, Flamin’ Hot Doritos and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

“The re-design has been years in the making, and the brand is committed to re-introducing Flamin’ Hot as an equal brand partner —and its own distinct packaging is a perfect step to capture consumers and create even more fans,” a Frito-Lay spokesperson said in an email to Food Dive. Frito-Lay is a division of PepsiCo.

Flamin’ Hot flavoring was created in 1989 at Frito-Lay in Plano, Texas, according to the LA Times. The first brand to get the spicy flavor was Cheetos. Flamin’ Hot was introduced to compete with spicy snacks sold in the inner-city mini-marts of the Midwest. Today, Flamin’ Hot is the No.1 brand in spicy salty snacks, Frito-Lay said, with a 53% average repeat rate.

Hot and spicy foods have surged in popularity since the late 1980s, particularly among younger consumers.

A 2022 survey of more than 6,000 consumers by Kalsec found almost three-quarters of consumers said most foods taste better with some level of heat. Among snacks specifically, 40% of people preferred heat.

PepsiCo has been among the biggest beneficiaries with its Flamin’ Hot franchise. Consumers made nearly 400 million trips to add Flamin’ Hot products to their carts in 2023, an increase of 31% from the prior year, the company said in a statement.

The company’s snacking business is composed mostly of Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats, which together generated more than $28 billion in sales in North America during the company’s 2023 fiscal year — accounting for a little less than a third of the CPG giant’s $91.5 billion in global sales.