Research Paper

Ivanna Cadena

Mr. Skipper

Encounters 7

January 19, 2023

Lays Potato Chips: Nobody Can Eat Just One

Introduction

One of the first things people do on road trips is stop at a gas station for a snack. Soon you spot the perfect snack sitting on the rack. Many choose the classic bright yellow bag of Lays potato chips. You check out and pop the bag open and the chips do nothing but succeed to fulfill your cravings. That is the feeling millions of people across the whole nation feel when they pop open a bag of Lays Potato chips. The creator of Lays is Herman W. Lay. He always had a talent for sales and his business skyrocketed in just the early years of his career. His chips have had so much impact on this world it's unbelievable. He really inspired a lot of people and a lot of lessons were learned from his life.

The Early life 

Herman Lay did not have much of a childhood. He was born on March 6th, 1909 in Charlotte, North Carolina. His mom and dad were Jesse N. and Bertha Erman Parr Lay (Herman W. Lay: Legacy of Leadership Profile). He grew up on a farm where his father would sell machinery to other farmers. At a young age, he and his family moved to Greenville (1969 Horatio Alger Award Recipient Herman Warden Lay). Sadly just three years later his mom died at the age of 39. Herman has had a passion for sales since he was a little kid. He would sell snacks and soft drinks for a nickel a pop and a dime a snack. His hard work paid off to the point where he opened a bank account for his  earnings. He even hired a kid to work his stand while going out and delivering newspapers. He also had a creative spiel, "Hey, get your nicely roasted, nicely toasted California sun-dried, long-eared, double-jointed peanuts! Five a bag!"(Herman W. Lay: Legacy of Leadership Profile) All those years of selling at the ballpark got him really interested in baseball. He eventually got to play and was really good. The kid had a talent for sports. In high school, he played baseball and basketball. Just like that, he earned a sports scholarship to Furman university. He did baseball, basketball, and track (Herman W. Lay: Legacy of Leadership Profile). Two years later, he dropped out to pursue his absolute dream in sales (1969 Horatio Alger Award Recipient Herman Warden Lay).

Beginning of Career

Jesse Lay set an excellent example for Herman. His dad was a machine salesman. Watching his dad make sales must have inspired him to be the best salesman he could be (Thomas). When Herman was 24 the Great Depression hit making it hard for him to find a job. He wrote 200 letters to employers and he only got one response. The response was from Atlanta’s Barrett Potato Chip Co, Gardener’s Potato Chips distributor. He interviewed for the job but turned it down thinking there was no future in potato chips. He returned to Barrett a week later because he was jobless and needed money. They put him as a salesman but then promoted him to Nashville distributor that same year. In the span of three years, he had over 20 employees working for him on his territory. Lay then bought Barrett's plants in Atlanta and Memphis for $60,000. He made a new business called H. W. Lay & Co. and sold potato chips and other things such as Fritos. This soon led to the creation of the brand Frito-lay (1969 Horatio Alger Award Recipient Herman Warden Lay). And in 1965 Frito-lay inc. merged with Pepsi-cola to create PepsiCo (Callum-Penso).  

Significant Accomplishments

Heman Lay accomplished many wonderful things and inspired many people. Sure he has won plenty of little awards here and there like: The Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. This award recognizes outstanding programs that food retailers and suppliers have implemented. Getting this award means a lot to business owners because it means that the business is truly successful. Another award he has gotten is that he was the first alumnus of Furman University. This showed to the other students attending Furman university that people like Herman Lay come out of it and he is one of their role models (Herman W. Lay: Legacy of Leadership Profile). His all-time biggest accomplishment is owning one of the best chip brands out there. Lays potato chip is a brand that is known worldwide and that must have felt so accomplishing for Mr. Lay. for his business to start off as just buying some pieces of land to a multi-billion dollar winning company. When Mr. Lay created Lay’s in 1932, Mr. Lay probably never imagined his business would be where it is right now (Thomas). Herman also co-owned the first company to go national. Back then brands stayed local and didn't really see a reason to expand. Not Mr. Lay; he thought bigger and when he merged with Frito to make Frito-lay in 1961 he made it national. When he did that business skyrocketed. When Herman merged with Frito to become Frito-lay it was the best decision he could have made. He became chairman of the board. And in 1965 he made his name and brand known even more by having Frito lay merge with Pepsi-Cola to create PepsiCo. In 2019 revenues hit $67 billion for the multinational food, snack, and beverage giant (Underwood).

Impact on the World

Mr. Lay and his chip company have impacted many minds in America. He has also impacted people worldwide, most likely because he was the first brand to go national (Riddle). Lay was a busy man and he liked to keep it that way by running his own business. Herman couldn't stay young forever so he decided to retire and it meant nothing to him. After his retirement, he spent time as chairman of PepsiCo. Then, he decided to leave PepsiCo. And even after that he still did not waste time. He spent a lot of his time creating new businesses and brainstorming ideas. His businesses were mostly family corporations engaged in real estate and oil and gas exploration. Some of his businesses that somewhat reflected his early career were State Fair Foods and a frozen foods manufacturer. Him doing this probably impacted a lot of people showing that once they retire they shouldn't stop there and they should always keep following their passion (Thomas). Lays potato chips are a major game changer in the chip industry. A poll was conducted and when asked which brand of chips they would choose as their “salty snack” most of the respondents said Lays. Chip brands have tried to copy this image and sell their chips like lays with similar flavors but it always came down to one and that was always Lays (Schafer).

Lessons Learned From Their Life

A trait that Mr. Lay definitely had was hard working. In his first three years of working with Atlanta’s Barrett Potato Chip Co, he had over 20 employees. He had accomplished more than the people that had been working there longer than he had. After he saw how good he was in the potato chip industry, he decided to branch off on his own. Just as he thought, business was successful so he decided to co partner with Frito and Pepsi, and they created Frito-Lay and PepsiCo (1969 Horatio Alger Award Recipient Herman Warden Lay). Herman worked even after he retired. He spent his retired time brainstorming future business that he could pursue in the future. Most of them were to be family corporations but some did reflect his early career. This is just showing how we should never quit dreaming and doing (Thomas). Mr. Lay has also shown us that some things that may look like nothing can be turned into something ginormous that could be known worldwide just like potato chips. Some people see Mr. Lay as an inspiration because he was so hard working. With his award, business, and accomplishments people wish their companies could be as successful as his (Underwood).

Work Cited

“1969 Horatio Alger Award Recipient Herman Warden Lay.” Horatio Alger Association, horatioalger.org/members/member-detail/her man-warden-lay.

Callum-Penso, Lillia. “Herman Lay, Who Built Lay's Potato Chips, Has Greenville Ties, Will Be on History Channel.” The Greenville News, 12 Feb. 2021, www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2021/02/12/lays-potato-chip- founder-herman-lay-lived-greenville/6709628002/.

“Herman W. Lay: Legacy of Leadership Profile.” Video Asset | Herman W. Lay | Legacy of Leadership Profile | Knowitall.org, https://www. knowitall .org/video/ herman-w-lay-legacy-leadership-profile.

Riddle, Holly. “The Untold Truth of Lay's.” Mashed, 31 Jan. 2022, www.mashed .com/255806/the-untold-truth-of-lays/.

Schafer, Romy. “State of the Industry Report-Snacks: Game Changers, Tortilla Chips.” Snack Food Wholesale Bakery, Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery, 17 July 2012, www.snackandbakery.com/articles/ 85826-state-of-the-industry -report-snacks-game-changers-tortilla-chips.

Thomas, Robert Mcg. Jr. “Success Tied to Potato Chips.” The New York Times, 7 Dec. 1982, www.nytimes.com/1982/12/07/obituaries/herman-w-lay-73-is-dead- success-tied-to-potato-chips.html.

Underwood, Tina. “Herman Lay, Who Built Lay's Potato Chips, on History Channel.” Furman University, 7 Sept. 2022, www.furman.edu/ news/ 2021/02/ 12/herman-lay-who-built-lays -potato-chips-featured -on-history- channel/.