On July 17, 1955 Anaheim, California was changed forever with the opening of Disneyland. The new 160 acre park had a rough first day with water supply problems, soft asphalt and unexpectedly high crowds. These initial issues were resolved and the park has since become a model for which other parks are based. Among the many shops and restaurants that would open was Casa de Fritos, an "authentic" Mexican restaurant. The restaurant served various dishes, often with Fritos. Their supplier of tortillas was Alex Foods, a local firm founded in 1906 by Alex Morales who got his start with a tamale truck. One day in the early 1960s a salesman for Alex Foods noticed discarded tortillas in the trash at Casa de Fritos. The salesman suggested frying up the scraps instead of throwing them out. Since they weren't part of the Fritos family of products, the restaurant hadn't bothered with them. Without the Frito Company's knowledge, the scraps were fried and flavored with basic seasoning. They were put on the menu and became an instant hit.
Arch West, marketing Vice President for the newly merged Frito-Lay Co. noticed the customers eating the chips and contracted the Morales family to mass produce them for nationwide distribution. Frito-Lay bought all the equipment while Alex Foods made them and Doritos were born, hitting the shelves in 1966. An instant success, sales exceeded what the Morales family could produce and Frito-Lay moved production to their own factory to meet national demand.
While it was a hit to the Morales family and Alex Foods to lose the Dorito contract they still went on to great things. Today they are known as Don Miguel Mexican Foods, a multi-million dollar corporation.
-Professor Walter
