Arch West, a former executive of Frito-Lay and the creator of the Doritos corn chip, passed away at the age of 97. West, who died of natural causes, will have Doritos scattered on the bottom of his grave and will be buried with bags of chips.
West’s daughter, Jana Hacker, said:
“We are tossing Doritos chips in before they put the dirt over the urn. He’ll love it.”
According to the Daily Mail, West invented the Doritos chip in 1961 when he was on a family vacation in San Diego. West tasted some fried tortilla chips from a food truck and decided to create a new snack called the “dorito.” West chose “dorito” because it sounded like “doradito,” which means “little golden” in Spanish.
West, who was the marketing executive at Frito-Lay at the time, brought his “dorito” idea back to the company. The snack maker was a little hesitant about West’s idea at first, but they launched the product in 1964 to huge fanfare.
Since 1964, Frito-Lay has created 23 flavors of Doritos in the United States. Around the world, there are more than 100 flavors, including Nacho Cheese, Cool Ranch, and 1st Degree Burn Blazin’ Jalapeno.
Doritos have been a huge moneymaker for Frito-Lay. The International Business Times reports that in 1993, Doritos accounted for 1/3 of Frito-Lay’s retail sales.
Being buried with Doritos may be a little strange for most people, but it is surely fitting for Arch West. When you die, what do you want to be buried with?
