Snackers the world over bowed their heads September 20th, to honor Arch West, the man who brought us Doritos, one of the world’s first national tortilla chip brand and possibly the most popular to this day.
It is said that West named the chips ‘Doritos’ after the Spanish word ‘doradito’ which translates to “little golden”. In 1961, West was visiting San Diego with his family. He came upon a food truck selling fried tortilla chips, and fell in love with them. At the time, West was working at snack food company Frito-Lay, and when he came up with the idea to create different flavors for tortilla chips, he proposed it to the marketing executives. While they were initially wary of the product, Doritos proved to be a near overnight success when they were launched in 1964.
When the chips were released, the product’s first commercial referred to them as “a swinging, Latin sort of snack.”
Last week, West died of natural causes at the age of 97. He is survived by three sons, 12 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren. He joins his wife who passed away last year.
His family has shared that his ashes will placed in an urn and buried in Dallas, Texas on October 1. Though it is not known whether they are following his request, West’s family has said they will bury Doritos next to the urn.
