The inspirations behind Frito-Lay chip flavors

PepsiCo's chefs often travel the world in search of new flavors.

• The Golden Sriracha Doritos were inspired by one chef's Thai heritage. The Mexican Street Corn Cheetos were inspired by a trip to the Mexican city of Puebla.

The big picture: "Chips are a really great way for consumers to learn about a new flavor, new region without committing to making reservations at restaurants or making a trip there," PepsiCo research chef Steven Dominguez, who is based in Plano, tells Axios.

How it works: The company's chefs make an actual dish emulating their desired flavor and work with taste testers to refine it. Seasoning experts help translate the final flavor profile into a snack.

Zoom in: The Golden Sriracha Doritos' full recipe is a secret, but Dominguez showed us how the sauce behind it was made.

• The process includes pounding garlic and shallots with a mortar and pestle for 20 minutes — because that's how the chef who developed the recipe did it.
• "Doritos is known for bold flavors. Our consumers are people who are late night eaters, experimental eaters. ... What that allows us to do is to really be creative in the ingredients and flavors," Dominguez says.

Reality check: Launching a new flavor can take 18-24 months given all of the iterations that go into flavoring and packaging.

• Lay's recently launched three limited-time World Cup flavors for its U.S. market: Argentinian‑style steak with chimichurri, Brazilian‑style garlic sauce and French onion soup.

The bottom line: "We want to be grounded by consumers," Dominguez says.

• "At least once a week, we're bringing in consumers to taste and test our products, to test our hypothesis, to test where we think the food is going."