Frito Lay shows how flavors are made

Frito Lay shows how flavors are made in Times Square test kitchen

By Meghann Foye

There have been so many exciting food pop-ups recently, we have to admit it's hard to keep track. Even Martha Stewart's gotten in on the action with her own pie-themed pop-up shop last month in New York City’s West Village.

In the spirit of "go big or go home," Frito Lay is hoping to beat them all with the launch a full-fledged test kitchen live from the world's crossroads at Times Square. In doing so, the maker of the popular Lay's potato chips, Tostitos tortilla chips and SunChips hopes to overturn the perception that its recipes are created in science labs.

Starting today at 11 a.m., the working test kitchen will show how flavors for its most popular chip lines get inspired—i.e., from "seed to shelf." Laura Macintosh, host of the brand's own “Flavor Kitchen” web series, will be on hand to host the daily three-hour show along with chef Stephen Kalil who heads up the test kitchen. Padma Lakshmi of “Top Chef” will be there and other well-known chefs such as Michael Psilakis, Jet Tila and Colombe Jacobsen will also be stopping by to cook on-the-fly recipes, demo the new chip flavors and offer product taste tests.

If you're lucky, you might even get invited inside the billboard to help taste-test recipes made with the chips like spicy jalapeno poppers breaded with Sun Chips Jalapeño Jack snacks. The broadcast will also stream live on Frito Lay's Facebook page so you can ask all your burning chip questions in real time as the event unfolds.

Why bring the test kitchen all the way from Frito Lay's headquarters in Plano, Texas? "We were surprised to learn that customers thought our products were made in science labs. We wanted to show that our chip flavors are made by real chefs and inspired by real recipes in an actual test kitchen," says Ram Krishnan, director of marketing. Krishnan explains, that for example, the new Lay's Garden Tomato and Basil Soup chip came from tasting five to 10 soup recipes prepared in the test kitchen.

This is all part of the plan to debut its new all-natural products lines, which will make up half of Frito Lay's offerings. Investing in the new all-natural line using no artificial or synthetic ingredients, no artificial flavors or preservatives is a huge gamble—it's a cost of thirty-five percent extra on average," says Krishnan. "Customers have been asking for more all natural products for the past five years—we're hoping it will pay off in sales."

Another misconception they're hoping to bust—that ingredients are flown in from abroad. "The potatoes used in Lay's are grown locally. If you're buying a bag of chips in California, most likely the potatoes were grown in-state," says Krishnan. "Our plants are located close to the market."

Hmmm, who knew that bag of chips that came along with your Subway sandwich was "local?"

Tell us, what's your favorite Frito Lay flavor?