Photo by Steve Granitz
Former PepsiCo janitor turned exec Richard Montañez is suing the company for denying that he invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
The Associated Press reports the lawsuit states that his career was destroyed after the food giant questioned his claim.
Montañez filed the lawsuit on July 10 in a California Superior Court. He claims PepsiCo initially supported him and promoted his story and the movie that was created about his invention. However, they later switched up on him and sided with former employees who claimed he was not the inventor. Richard is now suing for damages for discrimination, fraud, and defamation. The former PepsiCo employee says the company’s stance hurt his speaking career and other potential opportunities. Richard says a documentary on his life has since been axed due to the company’s new stance.
According to the lawsuit, Richard’s story begins working for PepsiCo as a janitor at its Frito-Lay plant in Rancho Cucamonga, California, in 1977. He is the son of a Mexican immigrant and grew up in a migrant labor camp. One day, a machine at Montañez’s plant broke down, leaving a batch of unflavored Cheetos. He subsequently took them home. Richard experimented with chili powder in an attempt to replicate the flavor of elote, a popular Mexican grilled seasoned corn. After he achieved the desired taste, he asked to meet with PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico in 1991 to pitch his spicy Cheetos. Richard was confident the Latino community would be feelin’ the new snack. The lawsuit states Enrico was down to have a meeting and liked Montañez’s presentation. As a result, he directed the company to develop a new form of Cheetos.
The lawsuit states that PepsiCo sent Richard on speaking engagements and fully backed his claim that he created the spicy chips. However, he says the company’s research and development departments shut him out of its discussions and testing. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos hit the market in 1992, and Richard says he continued to develop more snacks like Flamin’ Hot Popcorn and Lime and Chili Fritos. As a result, he was promoted to business development manager in Southern California. Montañez was eventually promoted to PepsiCo’s vice president of multicultural marketing and sales. He was in such high demand for speaking engagements that he retired from the company in 2019 to become a motivational speaker full-time. Talk about a come-up story! Devon Franklin, Meagan Good’s ex-husband, produced the film ‘Flamin’ Hot’ in 2023 based on his life.
PepsiCo became Montañez’s opp in 2021 after aligning with a Los Angeles Times article claiming he was not involved in creating Flamin’ Hot. Former employees said they were already working on spicy snacks when Montañez approached them, and they created the name ‘Flamin’ Hot,’ not Richard. Entertainment Weekly reported in 2023 that Frito-Lay did not deny the story. However, they stated, “the information we shared with the media has been misconstrued by some.” Furthermore, the company said this “…resulted in confusion on where we stand” and has put a “strain on our valued friendship with Richard Montañez…” Moreover, the brand said Richard “is an important part of [their] history” and credited him in part for their “success.”
The company should clarify their statements because Richard is seemingly hawt that they’re playin’ with his name.
Associated Press staff writer Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this article.
