BBQ Fritos Return to Store Shelves in Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois Permanently

'Tis a glorious day! A glorious day, indeed. Why? Because I just found out today that one of the best snacks ever created, in my opinion, is not only making a comeback, but they are back to stay. That's right. The Frito-Lay company heard the cries and pleas from fans like you and me and has decided to bring Bar-B-Q Fritos back to grocery and convenience store shelves in Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois permanently.

Frito-Lay Announces the Return of Fritos Bar-B-Q Along with Three New Snacks

I discovered this wonderful bit of news while scrolling through Chewboom, a site that shares the latest trends in the food world from new products coming to store shelves, to new items being added to restaurant menus, and more. Surprisingly, the story that revealed the news didn't mention a word about it in the headline. Instead, it pushed the fact that Frito-Lay, the makers of Fritos, as well as Tostitos, Ruffles, Cheetos, and several other popular brands, had recently launched new flavors of Cheetos, Sun Chips, and PopCorners. The mention of Bar-B-Q Fritos returning was buried at the bottom of the article like an afterthought. Don't they know that's the lead?!?!

Regardless, the news certainly brightened an otherwise routine Monday morning of trying to get back into the swing of things after a weekend off.

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Why Frito-Lay Finally Decided to Bring Fritos BBQ Back for Good

Actually, the better question would be, "why did they get rid of them in the first place?" It's a question I asked almost 10 years ago while working for our sister station, KISS 106. While I never got a direct answer from anyone from Frito-Lay, my assumption was they simply did sell as well as they once did, and it doesn't take a degree in business to know that if a product or service you provide doesn't get you a big enough return on your investment, you stop doing it. Maybe what Frito-Lay didn't expect was the reaction the discontinuation would get from those of us who were buying them and enjoyed every last chip in each bag we ate. We begged. We pleaded. One of us even created a petition on Change.org and 32,000 of us signed it, according to Today.

That passion did bring them back a couple of times over the past few years, but only for short, limited runs each time, which was nice, but not nice enough. We continued the fight, and to put a slight twist on an old saying, the squeaky wheel got the grease.

According to the aforementioned article on the Today website, a spokesperson for Frito-Lay said they were, "inspired by 'fan love and consumer demand,'” which is a nice way of saying we annoyed them to the point where they gave us what we wanted to shut us up.

Where to Find BBQ Fritos

Everywhere as of Monday (September 19th, 2022). By everywhere, that means, well everywhere. Grocery stores, convenience stores, anywhere snack chips are sold. They're available in 9.25-oz., 3.5-oz. , and 1.0-oz. bags, so get out there and get yourself some.

[Sources: Chewboom / Today]