Spicy dispute over the origins of Flamin' Hot Cheetos winds up in court

Flamin' Hot Cheetos are pictured near the front door of La Azteca Market in South Los Angeles, Aug. 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

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 flavour 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 Montañez began working for PepsiCo as a janitor at its Frito-Lay plant in Ranch Cucamonga, Calif., in 1977. Montañez was the son of a Mexican immigrant and grew up in a migrant labour camp.

One day, a machine in Montañez’s plant broke down, leaving a batch of unflavoured Cheetos. Montañez says he took the batch home and dusted them with chili powder, trying to replicate the flavour of elote, the popular grilled seasoned corn served in Mexico.

In 1991, Montañez 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.

Montañez said PepsiCo sent him on speaking engagements and actively promoted his story. But in the meantime, Montañez claims the company’s research and development department shut him out of its discussions and testing.

PepsiCo introduced Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in 1992. Montañez says he continued to develop spicy snacks, like Flamin’ Hot Popcorn and Lime and Chili Fritos, and in 2000 he was promoted to a business development manager in Southern California. Montañez eventually became PepsiCo’s vice-president of multicultural marketing and sales.

Montañez 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, “Flamin’ Hot,” in 2023.

But according to the lawsuit, PepsiCo turned on Montañez in 2021, co-operating with a Los Angeles Times piece that claimed others in the company were already working on spicy snacks when Montañez approached them, and that they – not Montañez – came up with the name, “Flamin’ Hot.”

Montañez said PepsiCo’s 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.