Doritos began as Disneyland leftovers

INTERNAL MEMO, FRITO-LAY, DALLAS PLANT — 20 June 1966

Subject: pilot product 'Doritos'

Origin of the product. In 1964, one of our employees on a trip to California, Arch West, saw the supplier Alex Foods serving fried tortilla triangles at Casa de Fritos, the Mexican restaurant inside Disneyland. Alex Foods made them from the previous day's tortillas so as not to throw them away; the cooks sent them to the bar with a spicy salt as an appetiser. Every basket came back empty.

Proposed product. The same triangle, same size, same 'Toasted Corn' flavour. Trade name: DORITOS (from the Spanish 'dorados', the golden ones). National launch: May 1966. Estimated initial run: four million bags.

Note to the marketing team. Please do not use the word 'leftovers' in any advertising material. It is acceptable to say that the product 'is born of a traditional Mexican recipe'.

— Arch West, Head of Snack Marketing.