Frito-Lay Ponders (Panders) the Flat Earth (People)

Posted on August 28, 2008 by Gary McCarty

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One of the booths at the recently concluded Western Foodservice and Hospitality Expo in Los Angeles featured a new brand of chips from Flat Earth called Baked Veggie Chips. Turns out, Flat Earth is a wing of Frito-Lay, which is no doubt pandering to the no-trans-fat, low-oerall-fat, low-calorie, veggie-only crowd.

The two incarnations of the chips I tried were Farmland Cheddar, with obvious cheese flavoring and a self-proclaimed "blend of rice, potato and vegetables," and Tangy Tomato Ranch, "a blend of rice, potato and vegetables" as well but with a reddish tint and flavor of ranch dressing and ‘matoes.

I personally preferred the Tomato Ranch version, but Flat Earth also offers the same chips (which they didn’t comp at the Expo) with fruit flavorings. Interesting idea, but one I’ll assiduously avoid.

However, these salt-free monstrosities, whatever their flavor, can never substitute for the real thing, and I can see no reason to munch veggie chips when you have a craving for the real thing. In this regard, Frito-Lay also carries Miss Vickie’s kettle-cooked potato chips, which are absolutely delicious–salt included.

Forget Flat Earth but prefer Miss Vickie’s.

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