In 1932 the Frito Company was founded by C.E. Doolin in San Antonio, Texas after purchasing a plain package of corn chips to eat with his lunch. His ice-cream business was caught in the middle of a price war and in need of a new business he bought the corn chip recipe and a converted potato ricer. That same year Herman W. Lay began a small business in Nashville, TN, distributing potato chips made by a company in Atlanta, GA.

In 1944, after several growth spurts, the H.W. Lay Company changes its product name to Lay’s® Potato Chips, and it becomes one of the first snack food companies to advertise on television. The first commercial debuted the company’s first spokesman Oscar, the Happy Potato.

In 1945 the Frtito Company grants H.W. Lay & Company an exclusive franchise to manufacture and distribute Fritos® Corn Chips in the Southeast. At this point the distribution trucks become a mayor focus for advertising.

In 1953 The Frito Kid plays a mayor role in television and poster advertising, having first appeared in the 1940s, and retiring in 1967. In 1956 he made a guest appearance on the Today Show with Dave Garroway.

In 1961 both companies merge to form Frito-Lay, Inc. and a new logo is introduced a year later. In 1965 Frito-Lay and Pepsico join. In 1980 they replace the logo in order to capitalize on its new identity in the marketplace and the company’s reputation for quality. This logo is then replaced in 1999 for a mark that better communicates the wide array of products they are handling.

Today, Frito-Lay has more than fifteen $100 million brands: LAY’S®, FRITOS®, CHEE.TOS®, BAKEN-ETS®, RUFFLES® DORITOS®, FUNYUNS®, TOSTITOS®, BAKED LAY’S®, WOW!®, SUNCHIPS®, MUNCHIES®, OBERTO®, ROLD GOLD®, GRANDMA’S® Cookies and Quaker Chewy Bars®, Quakes® and Fruit & Oatmeal Bars®.