(CNN) – As a non-sports aficionado, my attraction to game day festivities has been solely food focused. So naturally, I noticed how potato chips have taken less and less space on the snack table to make room for tortilla chips and guacamole.
Although potato chips continue to be the top-selling salted snack in terms of pounds sold, tortilla chips have been increasing in sales at a faster pace than potato chips, especially during this time of year, according to Tom Dempsey, CEO of the Snack Food Association.
And, it’s not just tortilla chips selling at such high rates either.
Tortillas — not the chips but the round flat breads used to wrap burritos – have been outselling hamburger and hot dog buns at supermarkets and retail food stores since 2010.
And salsa has been the new ketchup since 2008, according Jim Kabbani, CEO of the Tortilla Industry Association.
One of the factors that contributes to that growth is immigration. As the Latino population grows, so will the variety of foods that cater to them. Especially since the Mexican-American population makes up the largest Hispanic group in the United States.
Another factor that plays into the growth is that non-Hispanics have become more adventurous eaters, and companies want to cater to that, Kabbani said.
While Mexican food in the United States has become ubiquitously American as apple pie, the back-story of how the crispy golden corn chip became the go-to snack chip hasn’t really been told.
In an effort to tell that story, nationally syndicated columnist of ¡Ask a Mexican! Gustavo Arellano wrote the book “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America.”
In the early 1900s, tortilla chips were already being manufactured and distributed to local restaurants in southern California but were never really a big deal. In fact, their creation was even an afterthought.
These tostadas, as they are called in Mexico, were made from leftover tortilla dough. Go figure.
It wasn’t long before Frito-Lay executives noticed how everyone in those southern California restaurants was gobbling up tostadas, so they decided to make the chips, too. They called their product “Doritos,” Spanish for “little golden things.”
Although few consider Doritos a tortilla chip, under all that cheesy seasoning is an oppressed golden tortilla chip – the first to be launched nationally in the United States.
Shortly thereafter, tortilla chips made by other companies started to gain popularity – mostly driven by the rise of salsa, refried beans, and guacamole. But when nachos made their debut, it took tortillas chips to the next level.
Side note: Nachos were a delicious accident. When two American customers walked into his restaurant in Mexico, head waiter Ignacio “Nacho” Ayala couldn’t find the chef so he threw together some random ingredients and called them “Nacho’s Special,” Arellano said.
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