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PLANO, Texas — Lay’s Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger flavored potato chips emerged as the winner of this year’s Lay’s "Do Us A Flavor" contest by Frito-Lay.
Frito-Lay North America said Tuesday that registered nurse Meneko Spigner McBeth, who submitted the idea for Lay’s Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger flavored chips, will take home a grand prize of $1 million or 1% of her winning flavor’s net sales through July 1, 2015, whichever is higher. Her chip flavor also will remain on store shelves.
The three runner-up finalists were Chad Scott of Las Vegas, who submitted cappuccino; Matt Allen of Troy, Ohio, who submitted cheddar bacon mac-and-cheese; and Julia Stanley-Metz of Sacramento, Calif., who submitted mango salsa. Each will each receive $50,000 in prize money.
Lay’s said it will look for opportunities to bring one or more of the three runner-up flavors back to store shelves for limited-time appearances, given the strong response of consumers to all four finalist flavors.
"The response to this year’s contest has absolutely blown us away. It is clear our fans are not only passionate about flavor; they are also eager to weigh in and share their ideas for the flavors we bring to market next," stated Ram Krishnan, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Frito-Lay North America. "It has been an exciting journey, and we are so proud to celebrate Meneko and her $1 million flavor, Lay’s Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger."
Frito-Lay parent PepsiCo has held the Do Us A Flavor contest in many countries, with consumers suggesting millions of ideas for chip flavors around the world. Earlier this year, Lay’s brought Do Us A Flavor back to the United States for the second time, inviting consumers to submit ideas for "the next great potato chip flavor" and a chance at winning the grand prize of $1 million. After more than 14 million flavor submissions — more than three times the number of submissions in the contest’s U.S. debut last year — it was clear fans wanted a say in the next Lay’s potato chip flavor, the company said.
A judging panel of chefs, foodies and flavor experts narrowed submissions down to the four finalists, whose flavors were fully developed by Frito-Lay culinary experts and then unveiled in July. From July 28 to Oct. 18, consumers were invited to vote for their favorite finalist flavor at DoUsAFlavor.com; via Twitter, Instagram and/or Vine; and/or via text message, which resulted in Lay’s Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger flavored chips being named the winning flavor.
