14 DAY TRIAL // The creator of the popular crispy chips Doritos, Arch West, has died. Whether as a final tribute or because this was his wish, he will be buried with two of his favorite flavors of Doritos, his family confirms.
West, who came up with the idea for Doritos in 1961, died of natural causes at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. He was 97.
Since the creator of the most popular snack in the US can’t simply go away like that, his family has decided to make his funeral a bit more special, by including in the coffin two of the flavors people love so much, the Herald Sun informs.
“The family of Arch West said they will scatter the chips at his graveside service in Dallas. The said that they would scatter Doritos in the grave before placing the urn containing his remains inside and covering it over with dirt,” the publication writes.
West’s daughter, Jana Hacker, has confirmed the news: his father will be buried with his Doritos.
“We are tossing Doritos chips in before they put the dirt over the urn. He’ll love it,” Hacker is quoted as saying.
West’s son-in-law is telling TMZ that the flavors used will be his all-time favorites, Cool Ranch and Nacho. The Cheeseburger Dorito will not be scattered in the grave because West didn’t like it.
On the same occasion, Hacker recalled how her father came up with the idea for the snack, saying he’d first seen a similar product, a fried tortilla chip in San Diego in 1961.
“We were near San Diego and he stumbled on some little shack where they were making some interesting kind of chip,” she said.
Back in Dallas, West tried to market the chip but was not successful at it.
“It wasn’t 100 per cent blessed. He got some money from a budget and started to do some R and D that the bigwigs didn’t know about,” Hacker recalled.
The name Dorito comes from the Spanish “doradito,” meaning something small and golden.