A tour of Frito Lay headquarters!
Yes, Stuart works for Frito Lay/Pepsico but he doesn't work in the headquarters building so we never would have seen all of this if it wasn't the for our homeschool group.
We started our tour learning about Sustainability and Recycling. I love that SunChips has experimented with compostable bags and that Frito Lay does so much to ensure that they minimize waste and recycle as much as possible.
The campus is really nice with a lake on the property as well as a credit union, salon, and fitness center too!
Although there were a lot of people from PEACH attending the tour, we were divided up into 6 groups that rotated between tour guides so the actual group we were in was rather small.
We learned about the Research and Development process.
We saw the test kitchen where the chefs create new products and flavors. We saw the packaging department where they test new packaging. We even saw this machine that tests how hard someone has to pull to open sealed bag of chips.
We watched some Cheetos product being made in the R&D manufacturing room and felt how warm and soft it was when it first came out.
We saw the grocery store setting where Frito Lay tests their products in an environment similar to a store to see how light and heat are affecting the various products. Some poor person gets paid to sample the products every day to make sure that each batch is staying fresh for the estimated time that they would stay on a shelf. How do you get a job like that?
We learned how Lay's potato chips are made. Just potatoes, salt, and oil go into these salty wonders. But Frito Lay doesn't use just any potatoes. They have done research to find the perfect species of potato for making their chips. It was so interesting to learn all about the process.
We decorated our own chip bag.
Chose the salty snacks to fill the bag.
Helped turn on the heat seal machine.
Our chip bags were sealed for us.
Ta-da! Rachel's very own chip creation!
Her bag lasted approximately 0.23 seconds before she opened it up and ate all of the contents right there!
Thank you PEACH and Frito Lay for an exceptional tour that was both educational and fun for all ages!
This looks really cool and something my girl scout troop would be interested in!
ReplyDeleteI called the FritoLay headquarters, and the woman in PR was not familiar with this opportunity. Would you mind share the name of the person you worked with, or at least the division so I can reach out again?
Thank you!