Richard Montañez

Early life Montañez was born to a Mexican-American family in Ontario, California.

He dropped out of school and worked as a laborer before being hired at the age of 18 as a janitor for Frito-Lay, at its Rancho Cucamonga factory, in 1976.

Flamin' Hot Cheetos According to Montañez's account, when a Cheetos machine broke down, he took home a batch of unflavored snacks and seasoned them with spices akin to Mexican street corn. Newsweek reported that the flavor, since expanded to a full product line, "rejuvenated the brand" and garnered billions in revenue.

In May 2021, a Los Angeles Times article disputed Montañez's claim, reporting that based on an internal investigation at Frito-Lay, he did not create Flamin' Hot Cheetos. A spokesperson for Frito-Lay stated, "we value Richard's many contributions to our company, especially his insights into Hispanic consumers, but we do not credit the creation of Flamin' Hot Cheetos or any Flamin' Hot products to him." among other inaccuracies. The internal investigation was prompted by a complaint in 2018 from Lynne Greenfeld, a former employee who managed the team that developed the spicy snack for the single serve format. Fred Lindsay, who was a sales rep for Frito-Lay in the Great Lakes region before being promoted to its corporate headquarters, was also cited in interviews with former employees as being influential to the early development of spicy snacks. According to the article, however, Montañez did in fact rise from a floor-level position to a marketing executive at Frito-Lay, and he was involved in pitching new products such as Flamin' Hot Popcorn while still a machine operator in 1993 followed by two types of Fritos—Flamin' Hot and Lime and Chile Corn Chips.

Following the LA Times article, NPR reporter Sarah Gonzalez disclosed her own investigation for a Planet Money interview with Montañez released prior to the article. According to Al Carey, a former executive at Frito-Lay, and Patti Reuff, Roger Enrico's former assistant, Roger Enrico was not present and the date could not be confirmed, leaving it unclear whether this was the meeting Montañez, Carey, and Reuff described.

Montañez maintained his claims to Variety after the LA Times article, saying that he was pushed out of development before the test markets and his contributions were not documented due to his low position in the company. In response, Flamin' Hot screenwriter Lewis Colick added that "enough" of the story was true even if it was not entirely factual. PepsiCo released a statement in support of Montañez's contributions to the company, saying that the issue has caused "a strain on our valued friendship with Richard Montañez and the Latino community." While the statement claimed that "information we shared with the media has been misconstrued by some," it did not contradict or deny the Times reporting.

In July 2024, Montañez filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo, due to their statements saying that Montañez did not create Flamin' Hot Cheetos. The lawsuit claimed that PepsiCo committed fraud, racial discrimination, and defamation towards Montañez. The lawsuit was initially dismissed in May 2025, after the judge ruled that the allegations by Montañez "were insufficient or lacked 'factual support., though the judge allowed Montañez to file an amended complaint. By July 2025 both parties settled confidentially on undisclosed terms.

Later career Montañez began giving keynote speeches, largely based on his Flamin' Hot Cheetos claim, in the late 2000s.

Montañez's last position was vice president of multicultural sales and community promotions for PepsiCo North America. He retired from PepsiCo in March 2019 during an internal investigation into his Flamin' Hot Cheetos claim. He is the subject of a biopic, Flamin' Hot, directed by Eva Longoria.