How One Man’s Dream to Spice Up the Cheeto Came to Fruition.

As a kid traveling to Mexico, I was always intrigued when the locals would add Tajín spice (a unique blend of 100% natural chili peppers, lime & sea salt) to fruits and almost all of their cuisine. Spice is a staple for Mexicans. I’m Cuban, and we’re used to heavy seasoning, but not food that would set your mouth ablaze. The film triggered memories of my almost choking on a mango with Tajín and thinking, ‘I might die, but this is delicious.’

Flamin’ Hot follows Richard Montañez (Jesse Garcia), a Mexican-American man’s corporate journey to revolutionize the popular American snack based on his book: A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive. Actress/producer/ director Eva Longoria made her feature directorial debut and brought Richard’s story to the big screen.

We meet Richard as a boy in 1960s Los Angeles in Guasti, California, a community of grape pickers struggling to make a living. Montañez has ten siblings. Life was hard, rife with racism and run-ins with the law. Making matters worse, he grew up with gangs and limited opportunities to make money legally. However, the one positive thing in his life was his childhood sweetheart, Judy (Annie Gonzalez), and partner-in-crime until she became pregnant. With his father’s derogatory comments about him in his head and unflinching determination, Richard decides to make a change. He seeks the help of a fellow gangbanger who left “the life” behind by working at the Frito Lay plant. Richard lands the janitor job and gravitates toward the most intelligent man on the plant floor, an engineer named Clarence Baker (Dennis Haysbert), who educates him on the ins and out of production.

After hearing that Frito Lay sales are down and the plant might close, Montañez develops a spicy concoction with his family in their kitchen and create a new product that celebrates their Mexican heritage. The idea didn’t take off initially, as corporate naysayers didn’t invest in the product’s marketing and promotion. Undeterred, Richard finds another way to get consumers’ attention. His drive to succeed is unparalleled, and the film affirms this message.

Flamin’ Hot is an American immigrant story that relates, inspires, and speaks to American tenacity by proving people wrong and making it anyway! The story’s pacing is perfect, and the characters are lovable and funny.

Yet, the film is full of controversy. In 2021, after Richard Montañez’s book was released, a Los Angeles Times reporter published an article titled: “The man who didn’t invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos,” claiming his year-long investigative reporting, along with Frtio Lay’s internal investigation concluded that Montañez’s dates are off as well as his association CEO, Roger Enrico (Tony Shalhoub), who in the movie greenlit Montañez’s game-changing idea.

Following the article’s publication, Richard Montañez responded:

“I don’t care what room you’re in; somebody in the room will always try to steal your destiny. People may even say you never existed. I want you to do this: Write down your history because if you don’t, somebody else will. Remember that. And also, remember this, the best way to destroy a positive message is to destroy the messenger. Never allow that to happen to you. I’m certainly not going to let it happen to me.”

PepsiCo, Frito-Lay’s parent company, later stated:

“Far from being an urban legend, Richard had a remarkable 40-plus-year career at PepsiCo and made an incredible impact on our business and employees and continues to serve as an inspiration today. His insights and ideas on how to better serve Hispanic consumers were invaluable and directly resulted in the success of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. To be clear, we have no reason to doubt the stories he shares about taking the initiative to create new product ideas for the Cheetos brand and pitching them to past PepsiCo leaders.”

Sure. Hollywood is known to embellish true stories to dramatize plots, but corporations are notorious for poaching ideas from employees without giving them their due credit. And why would Richard Montañez go on a limb if his version wasn’t authentic? You be the judge. Flamin’ Hot is streaming on Hulu and Disney+. Watch it now!

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