Gotta Get At This: Lay's Guatemala Queso Cheddar y Tocino

Guatemala. You just got a gift.
Cheddar and Bacon Lay's.
Damn if that ain't worth a trip to Guatemala, I don't know what is.

Contest: Lay's Dominicana and Guatemala Cual Es El Sabor 2015 Mystery Bags

Here's another new Guess the Flavor contest, this time happening in the Dominican Republic. Normally, I would be stoked to tell you guys about this, but I'm pretty certain that we will never actually find out what this mystery flavor is.
SEEE... I've actually ranted about the team behind Lay's in the Dominican Republic before... and while I've never tried their chips before, I can tell you their marketing is the worst. Just the worst.
In 2012 they ran a campaign similar to "Do Us A Flavor" where customers pick a winning fan flavor. But then they just stopped running the campaign online and up until this month their Facebook was just sitting there asking fans still to vote (just go on their FB and scroll down the last few photos to see the evidence). Then last year, they participated in the South American "Copa De Sabores" World Cup Flavor competition. The Dominican Republic page is STILL sitting there asking fans to vote and waiting for a Champion to be chosen, check that out here.
 Now, out of the blue, after their FB has been idle for 3 years, Lay's Dominicana is finally announcing another new campaign.
Fans just need to buy the bag, taste it, and go to www.cualeselsabor.com to submit their flavor guesses. Guess right and win some $$$.
I love these contests, but I am not holding my breath that I'll ever find out what the flavor is.
So, why am I talking about it? Well, I still think it's something worth hunting down if you are passing through the Dominican Republic. Just because the marketing department needs help doesn't mean that the chips aren't fun or delicious.
So enjoy the hunt chip fans! and let us know in the comments what you think these taste like! I wanna know!!

UPDATE: as with many other contests DR has held, they have now added Guatemala to this contest. The 2 Countries now share a contest website which now blocks you out from the US and says "this site is inaccessible from your Country". Whether the flavors are the same in both regions, I'm not sure.

Frito-Lay Central America Kachitos Arepitas Mantequilla

This was a weird but fun bag to try. The bizarre story of determining what these actually are begins as such: My cousin brought these with him from Bolivia... but I'm guessing these were imported from Central America to Bolivia because the back of the bag lists off several Central American countries that it may be sold in, and no South American countries like Bolivia... and since it is pretty far from that region I think it was imported (I've seen it before, Sweden doesn't carry Lay's but some stores get the Danish ones that are meant for just Denmark).
The bag is filled with corn tortilla rounds called Kachitos Arepitas, in the flavor of "Mantequilla" which is Spanish for "Butter".
Now, I'm Colombian, so I know that Arepitas is a nickname for small-Arepas.

Arepas are these DELICIOUS cake/bread/pancake things made of corn... they look like thick tortillas.

In many Countries, Arepas are cut open and stuffed... but in some places, like Colombia, they are eaten just plain with melted Butter (or a piece of cheese) on top. They are pure delicious-ness in any recipe, but I love them plain with Butter. So, when I saw they were called Arepitas with Butter flavor, I thought YUM YUM, I've had something like these before!
In Colombia, there is a brand of chips called "Yupi" and they manufacture "Tosti Arepa", a tortilla chip flavored like Butter that are literally mini-Arepas. They are frikin awesome! If you can find them, I recommend them.

So, I cracked this bag open looking for the smell of Butter... but I couldn't find it... weird... then I smelled Cheese... like Aged Cheese... weird...
I tasted one... it tasted like Cheese... weird...
I flipped the bag over and read the ingredients... "queso"... that means Cheese... wtf was going on here!!?

I had another chip, I could taste the Butter come through as a secondary flavor. But it was no match for the Cheesiness. I figured the bag just didn't taste good, I mean, it say's "Butter" flavor, but it just doesn't taste like "Butter". A little investigating, and now, I think I understand what is going on.
I THINK, Kachitos are cheese flavored... like, always. I THINK, the standard base flavor is Nacho Cheese... very similar to Nacho Cheese "Doritos".
There are several bags of Kachitos brand products, but I believe the main bag is called "Kachitos Nachos: Clasico" and they are Nacho Cheese flavor. They are rounds and the bag shows off some liquid Nacho Cheese. This would explain why the Cheese flavor is not mentioned on the outer packaging of these. And the "Arepitas" bag is distinguished solely by it's addition of "Butter" flavor.

Here is a picture of the other options in the Kachitos collection.

The only evidence I have to support this crazy theory I have is that the Red bag pictured on the left is listed as "Kachitos Antojitos: Picante" flavor (Snacks: Spicy) but on Kachitos facebook page the flavor is described as 'Bacon and Cheese flavored with a hint of spice' and seeing as how the shape of the chips in that bag match the shape in the "Kachitos Clasicos: Bacon Queso" bag... It would be another example of them presuming someone knows the "Classic" flavor and only describing the bag by the additional flavor.

IT IS SO CONFUSING!! So basically all of these bags are Nacho Cheese flavored, whether they say it or not.

So what is my final review of this misleading bag of chips?? Well, I think for a chip similar to Doritos, it was actually pretty good. The cheese flavor was well developed and didn't overwhelm the chip. The Butter flavor comes through and gives the chip a fun, decadent taste. The crunch is well done, and you taste the yummy corn chip flavor. The color was nice. It was a tasty tortilla chip. However, I feel that the confusion about the flavor was distracting and frankly, poor branding. Since there are chips that exist that are butter flavored, others could very well have the same expectation I did. If I wasn't writing a blog and investigating, it would have quickly gone in the trash, I would have thought the chips were rancid... really. Because the flavor was so far away from what the bag said.
But, from a position of knowing that it is a Nacho Cheese flavored chip, I think it's worth a taste. If you like "Doritos", or even "Chili Cheese Fritos", I think you will enjoy these.


BONUS ROUND: It looks like Taco Bell Panama does in fact see these as comparable to "Fritos", because just like Taco Bell USA has stuffed "Fritos" into all their delicious treats, so has Panama done with "Kachitos"... so if you want to try some fun food in Central America, check out these beauties that are available now.

 

PS If anyone has any more insight into what the actual Kachitos flavors in each bag are please comment below or message me. I'd love to know!!

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Guatemala Pollo Campero

Guatemala is doing it all right.  Their newest bag is a flavor based on a Guatemalan fast-food chain called "Pollo Campero", if that name rings any bells that's because there are 50 "Pollo Campero" restaurants here in the US. "Pollo Campero" is like "KFC" and "El Pollo Loco" had a baby. They are famous for their Fried Chicken and offer it up alongside typical South American side dishes like Empanadas and Plantains. Lay's has bagged up that locally loved recipe and is now offering it up to the lovely people of Guatemala. I love crossovers like these! They make eating chips so fun!
SO, have you tried "Pollo Campero"? Have you tried these? How do they compare? We'd love to know!

Contest: World Cup Round-Up - Colombia, Perú, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Egypt, Arabia, & Chile... and a little Ranting!

Ima put this out there right now. Some of these companies should be ashamed by how bad their online presence is. ASHAMED. The World Cup has been over for like 3 months now, however, 6 of these countries started World Cup contests and just never revealed who the winners were on their shared website. Peru, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, and Honduras; they don't really have websites to begin with, but they launched a beautiful interactive site that was tracking the winners of each round of this contest. I kid you not, go on it right now, it's lovely but that damn site does not say who the winners are (www.copadesabores.com). Guatemala and Peru at least have functioning Facebook pages, and with a little digging I found that they did in fact announce winners on those pages (albeit the announcement was 1 picture hidden away on the timelines). This has actually happened before with Lay's Dominicana, they announced a previous contest online and then never announced the winner... check it out on Facebook, as that page is still showing off pictures from that unresolved contest. Whoever is handling South America's online marketing just needs to get it together... FOR REAL. Go look at how Margarita from Colombia handles their business. Flawlessly, they maintain a nice website, update their Facebook, and interact via Twitter and Instagram. I don't understand how it's that hard for the others to simply update a website that they've already had built.
 END OF RANT.

ok. So, let's talk about the contests that did have winners... and I apologize that it took SO long to share this info. I had really tried to be patient and 'round-up' all the winners in one post.

The only country from South America that actually announced their winner on their website was Colombia and their Margarita Chips. The winner was "Colombia Chorizo con Limon" (Chorizo and Lime). Voters chose to keep it Patriotic, and it's no surprise... Colombia had their most impressive World Cup EVER this year... plus the flavor sounds delish! This flavor is still available for a limited time in Colombia. Grab it while you can.

 Chipsy Egypt and Lay's Arabia shared their Flavor Cup and selected "Brazillian BBQ" as their winner. No surprise there. Not only does that sound yummy. But Brazil did an amazing job of hosting the World Cup and capturing the World's heart.

Chile also went Patriotic with their "Chile Enselada Chilena" and it sounds unique and tasty. I love a good acidic bag of chips. mmm.

Peru went Patriotic as well and chose "Peru Pollo a la Brasa" (Rotisserie Chicken). Can't complain, Chicken is da bomb! Good choice.

Guatemala  was swayed by flavor and chose "Suecia Queso con Especias" (Sweden Cheese with Spices). Can't go wrong with Cheese. Can't go wrong with Spices. The duo sounds awesome.

 Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, and Honduras basically don't have any online presence, so if you know what flavors they ended up choosing, I'd love to know. Share it down below!

All the winners should still be available for a limited time in the Countries that conducted the contests. If you're interested in these, I'd say try to find them soon since like I said, this article is coming a bit late. AND If you're just curious and would like a reminder of what the other flavors were in this contest; click the "World Cup" tag at the end of this post.

Contest: Lay's Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, & Honduras Copa De Sabores Round 2

Round 2 has begun for the South American nations participating in "Copa De Sabores".
As with Round 1, Guatemala, Panama, El Salvador, & Honduras all have the same flavors for Round 2...

 

 Brazil is represented by "Churrasco" or "Brazilian Barbecue" if you should like to call it that, and Sweden is represented by "Queso con Especias" or "Cheese with Spices/Herbs". We've seen this flavor represent Brazil in a lot of countries, and it won Round 1 in Colombia. But, the Swedish flavor is new and could be fun!

As for the Dominican Republic, it is also offering up a new and a not so new flavor...

 

Dominican Republic has chosen flavor to represent itself in the game; "Pollo al Limon" or "Lime Chicken". Sounds DELISH!! While they've chosen a popular flavor to represent Spain; "Jamon Iberico" aka "Iberico Ham". mmm. Looks like it will be a tough round in the D.R.

So, what are your thoughts this round? Who will emerge victorious? Have you been able to snag any of these World Cup tie-ins? Let us know down below!

Contest: Lay's Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, & Honduras Copa De Sabores

The Copa is SPREADING!! "Copa De Sabores" aka the "Flavor Cup" has spread like wildfire throughout South America. The contest is now being held in Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, and Honduras. Not to mention the South American nations we already know about; Chile, Colombia, and Peru. ANNNND the Middle Eastern nations all doing their version. Looks like it is going to be a BUSY season for us Chip Hunters!

So, first, lets talk about Guatemala...

EXACTLY like Colombia and Peru, we are seeing ITALY vs ARGENTINA as the 2 flavors to be voted upon. But here we have some sauces up for debate. Italy's offering being a "Pomodoro Sauce" and Argentina's being a "Chimichurri" sauce.

More importantly, the Guatemalan website FINALLY explains the rules of the Flavor cup, which has been driving me mad. Basically, you vote for your flavor in each round starting with the first round (Italy vs. Argentina), you have to register for this vote. If you can pick the winner every round you have the opportunity to win prizes. So this is just round 1 of  3 (3 being the final round). If you pick the winner all the way to the end, you can win the Grand Prize.

Check it out, so the winner of Phase 1 will go against the winner of Phase 2 in Phase 3, and that is the winner of the Flavor Cup.

(you guys have no idea how excited I was that they had this chart to explain this damn confusing ass contest to me... seriously)



In the Dominican Republic, we finally get a fresh face from Brazil...

Italy's flavor is represented by "Italian Dressing", which sounds AMAZING on chips! And Brasil is showing off "Salsa Brasileña", this has me a bit confused... the picture is obviously stewed beef with maybe some Garlic... but "Salsa Brasileña" is defined online as a salad dressing. The literal translation is "Brazilian Sauce" which doesn't help me figure out what it is whatsoever. So, I guess, if you try it, let us know what it is lol.

Panama, El Salvador, and Honduras all have the SAME EXACT flavors as Guatemala, (Italian Salsa Pomodoro & Argentinean Chimichurri) so I'm not gonna talk about them again for this round.

Let the HUNT begin!!

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Guatemala Aderezo Ranch and Lomo Encebollado

Lay's Guatemala is touting some new flavors... "Aderezo Ranch" and "Lomo Encebollado", mmm. While they are calling "Lomo Encebollado" aka "Grilled Beef Loin with Onions" a new flavor, I wonder how it compares to their very recent contest-winning flavor "Lomito Encebollado" (also "Grilled Beef Loin with Onions"). "Lomito" was only declared the winner in November 2012, so I'm not sure if they are stocking shelves with 2 bags of the identical flavor, or if they changed the name slightly, or what. But they are selling this as a NEW flavor... so I'll do some digging.
The real new kid on the block is "Aderezo Ranch", or "Ranch dressing". We see Ranch on everything in the States, but in South America, it's not their go-to staple dip; so it's cool to see them getting a new and unique (for them) flavor.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Guatemala Original with Tajin

Right now in Guatemala, Original flavor Lay's come with a packet of Tajin seasoning. Tajin is a seasoning from Mexico, it's made up of dried Chile peppers, dehydrated lime, and salt. It has a tangy flavor, and here in California people love to eat it on fruit (I often find it packaged inside my pre-sliced Mango containers with a fresh slice of lime).
The cool thing about this is that we can replicate it here in US, so if you are up for it, grab a bag of plain "Original" Lay's, and you can find Tajin at most shops that carry Mexican food. Just open the bag, season, and shake!

Have you already had this combo? Did you just now try it? Let us know how you like it in the comments below!

Lay's Guatemala Ponle Tu Sabor A Lay's Winner 2012

Congrats to Francisco Ruiz, the winner of Lay's Guatemala's Ponle Tu Sabor A Lay's contest this year. The yummy looking flavor of "Lomito Encebollado" will now be added to Lay's range in Guatemala and he has just won $10,000 GTQ. The flavor is grilled beef loin with onions, which just sounds ridiculously good. I really want to try these if I can get my hands on them! I've got to say again, the packaging is just SO cool. It  has a touch of 80s style with the white striped top, but it's super modern logo makes it look fresh. Then you've got the sliced food turning into chips, which makes you feel like the chip will taste exactly like what you are seeing... which is just a concept I really like. All together, I just adore the packaging. There is a lot to get excited about with this bag, so, itll be fun to hunt it down.
Big ups again to the winner!!

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Guatemala Ponle Tu Sabor a Lay's Contest

Another day, another contest!
Looks like Lay's Guatemala and Lay's Dominican Republic are both conducting this contest right now. "Ponle Tu Sabor a Lay's", which translates to "Put Your Flavor in Lay's", is a typical 'create the next flavor' type contest. It seems this contest started off with fans submitting potential flavors online (just like the current US contest), but right now the contest is down to two flavors inspired by two different fans; Andrea and Francisco.
The flavors seem to be available in stores (I've yet to confirm this), and fans can go to the website to vote on which bag should be added to the full time lineup. Both of these bags sound KILLER! I would grab either of these without a second thought. Pollo al Limon or Lime Chicken is Andrea's flavor. Even the picture on the bag just makes me want to dive in. And Lomito Encebollado or Tenderloin with Onions is Francisco's flavor. That sounds like a delicious take on the Steak and Onions bag. mmm. Both sound worthy of winning. I'll update when I find out which one wins. But if anyone has friends in Central America that can get their hands on these, I recommend you try and get some.
Also, I just wanted to say, these bags look AWESOME. They have a little touch of 80's with the white striping at the top, but modern coloring and a modern logo. These just look so cool. Not to mention that they have the food being sliced into chips. SOO COOL! Love the look of these!

UPDATE: I was recently looking at the Dominican Republic site and saw that they had 2 different finalists on the page now, I don't know what happened, but they do share a landing page so it looks like the pages got crossed and are now fixed. The Dominican finalists are Carlos with "Salsa a la Parmesana" and Indhira with "A la Parilla". Which are basically Parmesan Sauce and Grilled Beef. I'll throw together a new entry in more detail, but for now I want to clarify that DR has their own unique finalists. The two flavors in this blog entry above are exclusive to Guatemala.