PepsiCo brings Doritos into dip category

Dive Brief:

• PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay unit is rolling out dips under its Doritos brand, the company said. The dips will be available at retailers and on PepsiCo’s Snacks.com website for $4.49 starting later this month. 

• Doritos Dips come in two flavors: Spicy Nacho and Cool Ranch Jalapeno. The offerings are meant to be used with foods beyond chips, including pizza, wings and veggies.

• The new line extension from Frito-Lay comes as food and beverage CPGs aim to tap into existing brand equity to broaden their reach and grab a bigger share of the snacking space.

Dive Insight:

As food makers such as PepsiCo look for more ways to get their products into the hands of consumers, they often try to build out what they already have.

PepsiCo’s Gatorade beverage recently announced it was moving into gummies that support exercise recovery and a healthy immune system. Frito-Lay debuted bite-sized versions of its classic Doritos, Cheetos and SunChips snacks earlier this month, which are in canisters that are conducive to sharing with friends or eating on the go.

Doritos Dips are a logical growth path for a brand and a division best known for its array of salty snacks. Chips are often dipped in things such as salsa or cheese. It makes sense for Doritos to try to capitalize on flavoring snacks with a product that complements its chips and keeps the consumer within the Frito-Lay brand family.

For the PepsiCo unit that’s also behind brands such as Fritos and Cheetos, the dip gives Frito-Lay a way to enter categories including pizza or veggies that they don’t otherwise play in.

While PepsiCo is unlikely to ever enter these areas, having a dip with widespread brand recognition could make it a go-to option when a shopper buys other products. In addition, the dip could expand awareness of Doritos beyond the snack aisle, as well as make it more likely that a shopper impulsively tosses a bag of its snacks into their cart after seeing the dip.

“As Doritos disrupts the dip aisle with the release of DORITOS Dips, our goal is to deliver new and unexpected experiences to consumers,” Leslie Vesper, vice president of brand marketing for Frito-Lay, said in a statement. “Whether paired with their favorite foods or our other Doritos product offerings, we hope DORITOS Dips help fans think outside the box, just like we’re thinking outside the chip bag with this innovation.”

Frito-Lay has dips for many of its other brands, so Doritos Dips should be a natural brand extension. The Lay’s brand has Smooth Ranch and French Onion dips. Tostitos has Chunky Salsa and Salsa Con Queso. Fritos dips include Jalapeno Cheddar and Mild Cheddar.