Frito-Lay lets you track the plant where your potato chips were made
MARKETING | 'Chip Tracker' tells where chips came from as snack giant stresses local ties
Here's proof-positive that more shoppers must seriously want to know where their food comes from: Frito-Lay will let you track the plant that made each bag of chips you buy.
Frito-Lay, the world's biggest snack-food maker, on Tuesday unveiled an unlikely marketing strategy for its Lay's brand chips that focuses not on how the chips taste, but on the 80 "local" farmers from 27 states who grow the potatoes used to make its chips.
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A tech toy at Lays.com dubbed Chip Tracker will let folks see where any bag of chips was made. Type in the first three digits of the product code on the bag and your ZIP code and out pops the location of the plant.
In a new world of better-for-you food concerns, it's not about chips being fun to eat. It's about chips being local.
"Knowing where food is made and grown is important to consumers," said Dave Skena, vice president of potato chip marketing at Frito-Lay. "Sharing with consumers how regional we are is relevant and compelling."
TV spots will be focused to make that point. Michigan farmer Brian Walther appears with his brother, Gary, in a spot to air in that state and tells viewers: "Next time you grab a bag of Lay's in Michigan, think of us."
"Lay's Local" will be the brand's biggest 2009 campaign, Skena said. It also features 40,000 in-store displays customized for each state. Ads and regional store displays use such phrases as, "locally made in Texas."
With good reason. A national survey of restaurant chefs by the National Restaurant Association found "locally grown" food to be the hottest industry trend for 2009. The phrase is considered controversial in food labeling because there is no definition for it. Frito-Lay does not claim its products are "locally grown."
Gannett News Service