PeaTos, a snack company located in Los Angeles, is renouncing animal proteins in favor of a completely plant-based product line in response to customer demand and to disrupt the $29 billion salty snack market. PeaTos was once renowned for its Fiery Hot Crunchy Curls, which were the brand’s sole plant-based item and were likened to Frito-Flamin’ Lay’s Hot Cheetos by customers.
PeaTos will introduce one new product as well as two reformulated versions of its original, fan-favorite snacks as part of its shift. This month, the brand’s new Crunchy Pizza Rings join the brand’s freshly dairy-free and vegan Classic Onion Rings on shop shelves. PeaTos’ Classic Cheese Curls, which were previously produced with dairy cheddar cheese, have been veganized, making them the first vegan yellow cheese snack curl on the market.
The freshly vegan treats will be available later this month at more than 4,700 stores nationally, including Sprouts, Vons, and Kroger, as well as online at PeaTos, Sam’s Club, and Amazon.
PeaTos Taking On Frito-Lay
PeaTos is aiming to take on Frito-Lay, the manufacturer of popular snack brands Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Fritos, and more, with its Fiery Hot Crunchy Curls, Classic Onion Rings, Crunchy Pizza Rings, and Classic Cheese Curls. Fans of the Fiery Hot Crunchy Curls have fondly called the snack “vegan Hot Cheetos,” indicating that PeaTos’ ambition to threaten Frito-dominance Lay’s on the snacking business is working.
“Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are one of the most successful brands in the history of snacking… When vegans discovered our PeaTos Fiery Hot Crunchy Curls had all the taste and sensory experience of Hot Cheetos without dairy or artificial [ingredients], they went nuts. We had such a strong and passionate response from the vegan community—they begged us to make our other items vegan,” stated PeaTos Founder and CEO Nick Desai.
PeaTos wants to launch more Frito-Lay analogs in the near future to further threaten Frito-snack Lay’s monopoly—and to give customers with healthier snacks. “There is a staggering difference between Frito-Lay’s brands and the rest of the market… Our dream is to mount a true challenge to that monopoly and to develop a line of products that can become lasting household names but still deliver on the promise of better ingredients and more nutrition,” Desai added.
Health Conscious Junk Food
The newly vegan company hopes to keep the “junk food taste” of salty snacks while providing “better-for-you nutrition” by substituting nutrient-dense peas for corn and avoiding artificial chemicals and additives in its formulas. PeaTos snacks provide double the protein and three times the fiber of regular snack offerings on the market today, as well as fewer salt, fat, and calories per serving. PeaTos is well on its way to breaking the Frito-Lay monopoly with unique technology that mimics the flavor of cheese using plant-based components.
“We didn’t set out to create healthy snacks, we set out to create better junk food… Cheetos were invented in the 1940s and haven’t changed much since then. Technology has been through a revolution. Does anyone use phones first created in the 1940s? Cars? We wanted to use today’s technology to recreate America’s favorite snacks with today’s moms and today’s kids in mind,” Desai explained.
And it’s not just the contents of the bag that are being revamped. DJ P, a “sassy” female DJ who would appear on PeaTos product packaging and take on Frito-Chester Lay’s Cheetah when PeaTos’ vegan snacks hit shelves late March, was also revealed.
Source: “DAIRY-FREE CHEETOS? PEATOS TAKES ON FRITO-LAY WITH NEW VEGAN SNACKS” by VegNews
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