Taco Bell Doritos: There's a 'Taco Bell' flavor. Really.
| NEW YORK
Frito-Lay wants a bigger bite of聽Taco聽Bell's聽popular聽Doritos听尝辞肠辞蝉听罢补肠辞蝉.
The snack food giant plans to roll out its聽Doritos聽in a "Taco聽Bell" flavor as a limited-time product this spring, aiming to capitalize on the popularity of the Doritos-flavored聽tacos聽introduced by the fast-food chain last year.
Frito-Lay says it will be the first time since the 1990s that it has offered聽Doritos聽branded with the logo of a national restaurant chain.
Nacho Cheese聽Doritos聽Locos聽Tacos聽has been one of the biggest new menu items in recent times, with Taco聽Bell聽selling more than 300 million of the聽tacos聽with flavored shells since their introduction in March.
They were such a hit that聽Taco聽Bell聽postponed a follow-up Cool Ranch flavor to early this year to make sure there was enough capacity to make the shells. The chain also plans to introduce a聽taco聽in "Flamas" flavor, a Doritos聽variety available only in select regions of the country.
The offerings reflect the unique bonds between Yum Brands Inc., which owns聽Taco聽Bell, and PepsiCo Inc., which owns Frito-Lay. PepsiCo spun off聽Taco聽Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut more than 15 years ago, but the three chains still serve PepsiCo drinks, and executives collaborate in other ways to boost their respective fortunes.
The idea for the聽Doritos聽Locos聽Tacos, for example, came about in early 2010 when聽Taco聽Bell聽CEO Greg Creed visited Frito-Lay executives in Plano, Texas, to discuss how to celebrate the chain's upcoming 50th anniversary in 2012. Since Frito-Lay didn't have a production line for the flavored shells at the time, the Doritos聽seasoning was sprayed onto regular聽taco聽shells so executives could get of sense of how they'd taste. Creed said he knew right away it would be a hit.
"You know you've got a big idea when you don't have to explain it," said Creed, who has been with the restaurant chains since they were owned by PepsiCo. Creed noted that the mutual trust between the companies meant the project was based on "a handshake" in the early days.
Doritos聽Locos聽Tacos聽now account for about a quarter of all聽taco聽sales at聽Taco聽Bell, according to Creed. Without giving details, Frito-Lay North America Chief Marketing Officer Ann Mukherjee said in a separate interview that Doritos聽Locos聽Tacos聽have also boosted sales volume for Frito-Lay, which supplies聽taco聽shells for聽Taco聽Bell.
A variety of flavors were tested for the聽Doritos聽Locos聽Tacos聽before executives settled on Nacho Cheese, which is by far the most popular聽Doritos聽flavor (Cool Ranch is second). But Frito-Lay didn't want its聽Doritos聽name on just any聽taco聽shell, so it created a special, crunchier shell for the聽Doritos听尝辞肠辞蝉听罢补肠辞蝉.
"They wanted it to have that teeth-rattling crunch," Creed said.
To mimic the taste of聽Doritos聽Locos聽Tacos, Mukherjee said the聽Taco聽Bell-branded聽Doritos聽this spring will be a combination of Nacho Cheese flavor and聽taco聽flavor. Frito-Lay plans to release a Cool Ranch聽Taco聽version at the same, which could be intended to capitalize on the much-anticipated rollout of聽Taco聽Bell's聽Cool Ranch shells.聽Taco聽Bell聽hasn't specified when it will release its聽Doritos聽Locos聽Tacos聽in that flavor, however.
The partnership is likely to continue paying off for both companies, with Creed saying聽Taco聽Bell聽plans to keep looking for new聽Doritos聽flavors for its聽tacos.聽Taco聽Bell聽also works with PepsiCo to offer unique soft drinks, such as Mountain Dew Baja Blast.
The enduring relationship between PepsiCo and Yum was even captured in an exchange on Twitter last fall when Pepsi tried to engage customers on Twitter by asking them to fill in the blank: "After school snack: Pepsi and ______."
Taco聽Bell聽responded with the suggestion, "Taco聽Bell."
Pepsi shot back with, "There's no better answer. (hash)truth."
The exchange was mocked by the website BuzzFeed as "The Saddest Moment in Twitter History," but it also highlights the unusual ties between the two companies.
