“[Flamin’] Hot Cheetos dust just got in my eye and now I’m wondering what I’ll name my guide dog.” – Random Twitter User
What:
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, the spicier version of the famous cheese-flavored, puffed cornmeal snack.
When:
Late 1970s
Where:
The Frito-Lay Rancho Cucamonga plant in Southern California
Who:
Richard Montañez, Mexican-born janitor
How:
Normally, we try to avoid discussions about junk food as much as possible; their very existence is counter-intuitive to cooking and their healthy nutritional facts are essentially non-existent. However, sometimes the backstory beats the subject matter. In this case, we’re taking a look at how one man tweaked an already popular snack food and changed his career forever.
Richard Montañez was your average Mexican boy growing up Guasti, California. His dreams and aspirations laid solely on working for the town’s local factory, in due part from difficulties at school. Montañez seemed resigned to his status as an outcasted Hispanic student who struggled with English classes.
Nevertheless, Montañez realized that being different had its advantages. Case in point, he noticed that many white students often observed him eating a burrito for lunch (an oddity for American diets at the time). A few days later, he began selling burritos in the schoolyard for 25 cents apiece.
Richard Montañez – Lifelong Hustler
In 1976, he began working as a janitor at the Frito-Lay factory in the Californian city of Rancho Cucamonga at 12 years old after dropping out of school. One day, a Cheetos assembly line broke down, causing the cheese puffs to come out without their signature orange, cheesy dust. Montañez decided to scoop up a few samples and bring them home to experiment on.
Montañez became inspired by a go-to Mexican staple: elote or corn on the cob covered with butter, chile powder, lime juice, and cotija. The janitor decided to use the same ingredients but on Cheetos. His family and friends loved the result, inspiring Montañez to bring his creation to upper management.
This daunted Montañez; the man had never given a presentation in his life, let-alone one for the administrators of a Fortune 500 company. Looking to shoot for the stars, Montañez rented out a marketing book from the library, bought a $3 tie, and created his own packaging for his Cheetos calientes. When the time was ready, he unveiled his secret concoction to the board.
The president loved both Montañez’s ingenuity and initiative. For the former, he formally inducted the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into Frito-Lay’s cheese puff product mix. For the latter, he promoted Montañez who eventually rose to executive vice president of multicultural sales at Frito-Lay. Montañez currently travels across the country, giving motivational speeches on the significance of diversity in business.
Montañez took one of the easiest tricks in the book – making an addition to a pre-existing product line – and made a fortune off of it. As of 2017, Cheetos is the leading cheese snack brand of the United States with over $1 billion in annual revenue. As a quintessential rags-to-riches story, Montañez will soon have his own Hollywood film made after him, courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures; the biopic is currently titled “Flamin’ Hot.”
For any up-and-coming dreamers, take Montañez’s words into consideration: “We’ve all been given an ability to do something great in this life.”
Sources:
Andrews, Travis M. “The Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Movie: How a Frito-Lay Janitor Created One of America’s Most Popular Snacks.” The Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/02/23/the-flamin-hot-cheetos-movie-how-a-frito-lay-janitor-created-one-of-americas-most-popular-snacks/.
Luviano, Tania. “Our American Dream: The Janitor Who Invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 26 Mar. 2012, latino.foxnews.com/latino/community/2012/03/26/our-american-dream-richard-montanez-janitor-invents-hot-cheeto/print.
Palmer, Joe. “Leading Cheese Snack Brands 2017 | Statistic.” Statista, 12 Jan. 2018, www.statista.com/statistics/188241/top-cheese-snack-brands/.
Pomranz, Mike. “Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Were Invented by a Janitor.” Food & Wine, Time Inc., 22 June 2017, www.foodandwine.com/fwx/food/flamin-hot-cheetos-were-invented-janitor.
Than, Cynthia. “How a Mexican Janitor Invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.” Inc.com, Inc., 29 Feb. 2016, www.inc.com/cynthia-than/the-mexican-janitor-who-invented-flamin-hot-cheetos.html.