A Frito-Lay exec explains why your favorite Doritos and Lay's flavors might be missing from stores since the pandemic hit

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As snacking has increased amid the pandemic, Frito-Lay has had to pivot its business to feed the growing salty cravings of its consumers.

The savory-snack subsidiary of PepsiCo responsible for brands like Tostitos, Doritos, Cheetos, and Lay's, was impacted by a shift in consumer habits at the start of the pandemic. Like many food and beverage companies, Frito-Lay saw a surge in business during the stock-up phase at the start of the pandemic. Salty snacks were the top food item contributing to sales growth at retailers since early March, according to sales data from IRI, a data-analytics and market-research company.

To meet the rise in demand, Frito-Lay made the decision in early March to streamline the portfolio and reduced about 21% of the brands SKUs to focus on maintaining the supply of the best-selling core brands, a representative for the brand said. 

"From a production perspective, as we got into this, we had to really reduce assortment of a lot of our portfolio," Mike Del Pozzo, the chief customer officer of Frito-Lay North America, told Business Insider in an interview, adding that a top priority was ensuring core brands were available and accessible in stores. 

The result, naturally, was a lack in variety among other, less stand-out flavors near the start of the pandemic. Frustrated by being unable to find their favorite flavors, Frito-Lay customers took to Twitter to inquire about the lack of flavors such as Doritos Salsa Verde, Fritos Scoops Spicy Jalapeño, Frito-Lay Baked & Popped Mix Sack, Tostitos Restaurant Style Hint of Jalapeño, and more. In many cases, Frito-Lay responded to these inquiries and complaints by confirming that these flavors were experiencing a temporary pause in production.

One user took to Twitter to voice his frustration with the lack of stock, to which Frito-Lay responded that the company was "working diligently to meet that demand."