The war of the tortilla chip is upon us in the Pacific NW between local favorite Juanita’s and the newcomer, La Cocina de Josefina. Typically, this might not be such a bad thing, but given that Josefina’s chips are made by Frito-Lay, we’re going to go ahead and take sides.

Meet Juanita

Juanita’s began in a small rented room in 1977. After relocating to Hood River, the Dominguez family saw a hole in the tortilla market and began expanding the family supply of tortillas, eventually becoming Juanita’s.

La Cocina de Josefina

Josefina chips are also made in the Pacific NW – but according to the Josefina website, they’re manufactured at the Frito-Lay plant in Vancouver, Washington. Interestingly enough, Frito-Lay doesn’t list Josefina chips as a brand on its website. Plus, Frito-Lay already owns Tostitos, Santitas and collaborates to manufacture Sabra salsa. What could it possibly use another tortilla chip brand for?!

Buying local

Frito-Lay is marketing Josefina tortilla chips as made in Vancouver, Washington in an attempt to appeal to those who buy local products. While technically they are manufactured in Vancouver, the profits and economic benefits to buying local are likely going elsewhere.

In an interview with the Willamette Week, Luis Dominguez – Juanita’s president – said he suspected that Frito-Lay was trying squeeze out the competition, targeting smaller regional companies.

What Frito-Lay is forgetting is that branding is more than an identity. A brand is in some sense, a promise and a relationship with customers. Juanita’s prides itself on being a small, local business with a high-quality, well-loved product. Unfortunately for Josefina, similar packaging will only take Frito-Lay so far.

At least Frito-Lay knows that buying local is important to Pacific Northwesterners – but they’re doing it wrong. Pass the Juanita’s, please.

What do you think? Is Frito-Lay taking it too far? Do you have a good guacamole recipe to share? We want to hear it. Tweet away!

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