Categories: TECHNOLOGY

How Do Frito-Lay Products Get to the Store?

Frito-Lay Products
Did you ever think about how these products get on the shelves?

I love potato chips and most other salty, crunchy snacks. Cheetos, Ruffles, Fritos, Kettle Chips, you name it, and I like them. I shop most often at Wal-Mart for my groceries, and I have often noticed the huge row of Frito-Lay products on display. There is also usually a free standing aisle display of Frito-Lay products alongside a Pepsi display. Frito is a subsidiary of Pepsi so this seems logical. Lately I have also noticed that most of the check-out aisles have shelves of single bags of chips in a variety of flavors.

I have gone to Wal-Mart at all hours of the day and have noticed that in the mornings, the shelves are full and very straight. Later in the day, many bags of chips are missing and some of the shelves are a bit dishabille. However, next day things are back in order, the shelves are full, and all is right in the chip world. I thought that perhaps the store had someone, a stock boy or something, who does this job every day, but that is not the case.

It turns out that the Frito-Lay route driver is a very industrious and hard working man or sometimes woman. The route driver must get into Wal-Mart before about 4AM and stock the shelves with his goods. He also has to build and stock the aisle displays and the check-out aisle displays. No one works his shelves but him. If you see a Frito-Lay product hanging at the end of an aisle in Wal-Mart or most other stores, it is because the industrious Frito-Lay route man has asked permission from the store manager to do so, and has brought the needed supplies and the products to the store himself and installed the display himself. When new products are introduced, the route driver has to decide how to stock his shelves, how much product, and which products to display. In many cases Frito has an agreement with the stores that if the route driver is allowed to stock the shelves as he sees fit (what and how much), Frito will in turn take back any stale products or damaged products at no charge to the store. Now if the store manager wants to decide how much and what kind, he must be responsible for his own stocking of shelves, and he is not allowed to return at no cost the stale or damaged products. It seems that this arrangement is fair and really a good deal for the stores. The route driver must, of course, know the areas that he services and adjust his products if something doesn’t sell in a particular place. And bear in mind that the route driver might have one Wal-Mart on his route but lots of smaller stores. He has to be personable in all of the stores he visits, he has to be quick, yet thorough, and he must finish his route before going in for the day. The Frito-Lay route man works hard and for usually ten or so hours a day. He gets to know the people on his route, and he takes care of their Frito-Lay needs. He jumps in and out of a big truck many times a day with a smile on his face.