Frito-Lay focuses on products with all natural ingredients

PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America division today said that approximately 50 percent of its product portfolio will be made with all natural ingredients, including three of its biggest brands, Lay's® potato chips, Tostitos® tortilla chips and SunChips® multigrain snacks. The products made with all natural ingredients do not have any artificial or synthetic ingredients, and they do not contain any artificial flavors or artificial preservatives, or ingredients such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), yet still have the great taste consumers expect from Frito-Lay.

More than six dozen varieties of Frito-Lay products will be made with all natural ingredients including all the flavors of Lay's® potato chips, Tostitos® tortilla chips, SunChips® multigrain snacks, Baked! snacks, and Rold Gold® pretzels by the end of 2011.

"As the snack food category leader, we have insights that show consumers are seeking a wider range of products made with all natural ingredients.

At Frito-Lay North America we want to provide our customers with a broad portfolio of snack options that taste great and are made with real food ingredients,"said Ann Mukherjee, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Frito-Lay. "Many of the unflavored snacks in our portfolio are already made with all natural ingredients, and we've focused on expanding our portfolio of products with all natural ingredients to include more of consumers' favorite flavored products."

Frito-Lay's seasoning professionals and chefs at the Frito-Lay Flavor Kitchen™ turn culinary inspiration into great tasting snacks like Lay's regionally-inspired flavors, such as Tangy Carolina BBQ and Garden Tomato &Basil.

The Frito-Lay seasoning professionals created the new seasonings for the products made with all natural ingredients.

New products made with all natural ingredients are now becoming available at retailers nationwide with more products launching throughout 2011. The reformulated products will be easily identifiable in stores with a stamp on package that calls out that the product is made with all natural ingredients, with no MSG, artificial preservatives or artificial flavors.

To support the transformation, Frito-Lay is undertaking the largest integrated marketing campaign in the history of the company. The portfolio-focused, 360 degree marketing campaign launches January 1 during the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and includes a significant focus on digital and social mediums to connect with consumers.

Highlights of the campaign include:

• Television Advertising: National campaign launching January 1st during the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and appearing on a range of network and cable channels will focus on the real employees behind the products made with natural ingredients, from the purchasing agents who buy ingredients, to culinary center chefs who inspire new products to quality experts that ensure products meet Frito-Lay's high standards.
• Print Advertising: National campaign highlighting the real food ingredients and culinary-based innovation process that are used to make Frito-Lay's products, appearing in a variety of national print outlets. The print campaign will include Quick Response (QR) codes that leverage scan technology to unlock additional content, including recipes and culinary webisodes.
• In-Store Promotions: In-store communications including redesigned packaging, partnering with top-tier retailers and media for cooperative advertising.

Frito-Lay is making an investment in emerging technology and marketing practices to support the program;embracing digital media in a way they never have before and utilizing the scale of mass media to drive digital and social engagement. And in 2011, Frito-Lay will use advertising and marketing to drive consumers to Facebook.

Most of the advertisements - and for the first time ever, packaging - will list branded Facebook pages. Frito-Lay will claim the broadest portfolio of consumer products that include a Facebook URL on packaging to date.

"Throughout the campaign, Frito-Lay is highlighting our 'seed to shelf' story, which shows the care and pride that goes into every step to make our products, from the real ingredients that we use, to the real culinary arts and quality employee experts,"said Mukherjee. "We are pulling back the curtain and inviting consumers to learn how our products are created, from our kitchen into theirs."

Related PotatoPro Newsletter: Food Ingredients: Real Simple