LAY’S Do Us A Flavor Contest!

LAY’S® Do Us A Flavorâ„¢ is back.

The search is on for the yummiest flavor idea!
Create a flavor, choose your chip and you could win $1 million

That’s right, for the second year LAY’S is letting the customer decide what new flavor they would love to see in a chip.  Not only that–but this year you get to decide which TYPE of potato chip would go best with your flavor. . LAY’S Classic, LAY’S Wavy and LAY’S Kettle Cooked!

So the question is. . . what would be Yummy as a chip? 

Everyone knows what “yummy” is to them–just take a look on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and you’ll see thousands of photos of food tagged with #yummy.  But how do you come up with an idea for a flavors to suggest for a chip?  Where does inspiration come from?  That was the question we tackled when I was invited, along with some of the other Walmart Mom Bloggers, to the Frito-Lay Flavor Kitchen in Plano Texas last month. (Liz from Hoosier Homemade / Pocket Change Gourmet, Colleen from Classy Mommy and me–Jenn from Frugal Upstate!)

We knew that we were going to learn about the Do Us a Flavor Campaign and have a special culinary experience, but were not given any specific details. . . it was all very mysterious!

After learning about the program (and seeing last year’s 3 finalists– Chicken and Waffles, Sriracha and the customer chosen winner–Cheesy Garlic Bread) we headed over to the Flavor Kitchen to meet Chef Stephen and learn about our surprise.

And what a surprise it was!  Not only did we get to cook with the Lay’s Executive Research Chef–but to help us learn and think about the concept of inspiration, he had looked at each of our blogs and came up with a recipe that was inspired by us!  A recipe developed JUST FOR US by the Executive Research Chef. . . how absolutely cool is that?

For my blog, Frugal Upstate, he saw that I use my crockpot a lot, and that I like warm comforting meals in the winter.  From that he said he was inspired to create a “Speed Scratch Beef Stew” that could have the components partially prepared on one day, frozen, and then quickly combined to be made on a busy week night!

It was amazing to use a professional kitchen and have a Chef of such caliber instruct us. 

And it really made me think about inspiration.  Chef Stephen didn’t just take a recipe I had and revamp it, and he didn’t take a method I used (like the crockpot) and incorporate it–instead he took the concepts behind my cooking and style into account (something tasty but quick, warm and filling, classic flavors that are good for a family) and built something new.

So where can you find inspiration?  Why not take a look at what YOU think is yummy.  What favorites do you come back to time and time again?  What will you ALWAYS order if you see it on the menu?  What style of food do you enjoy most?  What are the things that attract you to a food (sweet? salty? complex? intense?). . . you don’t have to be a chef–you just have to be someone who eats and enjoys food.  Come on–you know what you like!  Share it with LAY’S and YOU could win a million dollars!

So how do you enter?From now to April 5th Walmart shoppers can submit their flavor suggestions on the Walmart’s Do Us a Flavor Entry Page. You will be asked for your name, you chip flavor name, up to three possible ingredients, the chip style and a 140 character description or inspiration for the flavor. Creativity counts here folks!

The submissions will be judged by a panel of chefs, foodies and flavor experts and they will be narrowed down to 4 finalists–that’s one more than last year!  Those four flavors will be fully developed by Frito-Lay’s culinary experts and will be unveiled this summer (2014). That’s when you can buy them and try them.

Who gets the final say? Fans! Just like last year, fans will vote on the flavor they want to see remain on the store shelves! The winner will be announced in November.

Good luck!
See official rules for details

Oh, and if you wanted to try the Speed Scratch Beef Stew–here’s the recipe!