Last Updated on 08/26/2021 by GS Staff
Is Doritos Publicly Traded?
Doritos is not publicly traded. It is a brand of PepsiCo that is manufactured under its snack food division, Frito-Lay. While you cannot purchase Doritos stock, you can buy shares of PepsiCo.
PepsiCo trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol PEP. It is a multinational snack, beverage, and food company organized into seven segments: Frito-Lay North America, Quaker Foods North America, PepsiCo Beverages North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa/Middle East/South Asia, and Asia Pacific.
As we will outline below, PepsiCo is an enormous company that is much larger than just Doritos and the obvious Pepsi brand. In other words, don’t invest in PepsiCo simply because you love Doritos and Pepsi.
What Does PepsiCo Own?
We aren’t going to provide an exhaustive list of everything that PepsiCo owns but here are many of the recognizable brands. This should give you an idea of not only what PepsiCo owns but also its size.
Frito-Lay
- Doritos
- Cheetos
- Fritos
- Lay’s
- Ruffles
- Tostitos
- Rold Gold
- Sun Chips
Quaker Foods
- Aunt Jemina (Now Pearl Milling Company)
- Life cereal
- Cap ‘n Crunch
- Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
- Quaker Oatmeal
- Rice-A-Roni
PepsiCo Beverages
- Pepsi
- Mountain Dew
- Gatorade
- Aquafina
- Rockstar Energy Drink
- AMP Energy Drink
- Propel
When Did Pepsi Acquire Doritos?
The original concept for what would become Doritos was developed at Casa de Fritos around 1960. Casa de Fritos was a restaurant at Disneyland in California. As a way to be economical with excess tortillas, the restaurant cut them up, fried them, and then seasoned them. These chips were a hit with guests which prompted Frito-Lay to start producing them for national sale. They were first manufactured by Alex Foods before Frito-Lay started making them on their own. Their name, “Doritos”, means “little golden things” in the Spanish language.
The Pepsi-Cola Company merged with Frito-Lay in June 1965. Doritos became a part of Pepsi due to this merger. As a result of the merger, PepsiCo was officially formed. Furthermore, the merger allowed Frito-Lay to have access to the international market where Pepsi was already being sold. This eventually helped transform Frito-Lay into the world’s largest distributor of snack foods with Doritos being one of the top sellers for the subsidiary.
PepsiCo once also owned Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC. For readers that are interested, we did an article on the topic that can be found here.
Will There Ever Be a Dortios Stock?
It is tough to imagine a scenario where there would solely be a Doritos stock. If Doritos were ever to leave PepsiCo, we would speculate that it would be through a spinoff or sale of the Frito-Lay division. That being said, you should assume that Doritos and Frito-Lay will remain a piece of PepsiCo for the foreseeable future. We have no information to suggest that Frito-Lay will ever leave PepsiCo.
Final Thoughts
While Doritos stock does not exist, you can consider investing in the brand’s parent company, PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP). As outlined above, PepsiCo is a mammoth company with revenues of approximately $74,583,000,000 that is earned from an assortment of brands. Be sure to complete thorough research on the entire company before considering investing in PepsiCo. Additionally, seek professional financial advice if needed.
Sources:
2020 PepsiCo Annual Report
Northrup Last updated: January 31, L. (2014, January 31). Doritos means “LITTLE GOLDEN things,” and they were invented at disneyland. Consumer Reports. https://www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/doritos-means-little-golden-things-and-they-were-invented-at-disneyland/.
