the chatter
A crunch fit for a queen
On social media, the backlash was swift and widespread when news broke that PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi had said in a fateful Freakonomics Radio interview, that women “don’t like to crunch too loudly in public” and “don’t lick their fingers generously.”
“WE ASKED FOR EQUAL PAY,” writer Julia Moser tweeted.
“Not only will Lady Doritos be less crunchy, but once a month for a few days they will also be extra spicy. #ladydoritos,” comedian Fortune Feimster commented.
Nooyi further mused on the need for a “low-crunch,” “full taste profile” version of the snack that women could slip discreetly into their purses. When asked about the company’s plans to launch a “male and female version of chips,” Nooyi said, “It’s not a male and female as much as ‘are there snacks for women that can be designed and packaged differently?’ And yes, we are looking at it, and we’re getting ready to launch a bunch of them soon.”
However, “Lady Doritos” – a cleaner, quieter snack that no woman ever asked for – appear not to be in the cards after all, according to PepsiCo.
“The reporting on a specific Doritos product for female consumers is inaccurate,” a spokeswoman stated in an email to AdAge. “We already have Doritos for women – they’re called Doritos, and they’re enjoyed by millions of people every day. At the same time, we know needs and preferences continue to evolve and we’re always looking for new ways to engage and delight our consumers.”
A female-centric Dorito is as absurd as “beer for her” or Girls’ Night Out-brand wine. Contrary to Nooyi’s sugggestions, countless women have tipped back a bag of Doritos to get to the dust and chip fragments. And no gender is immune to the appeal of crunchy foods. And frankly, Nooyi’s suggestions otherwise are a little surprising. According to Forbes, the head of PepsiCo – one of just 27 female CEOS at the helm of a Fortune 500 company – is among the world’s most powerful women. She oversees brands that include crunch-factories Lay’s and Cheetos, and is responsible for more than a quarter-million employees worldwide. And NPR reports that in addition to overseeing the snack and beverage empire, she plays guitar in an all-female rock band.
Hearing people complain about Winterlicious, Toronto’s premiere prix fixe food event, is like listening to your dentist tell you to floss. There is a particular protocol to follow, even if you’re not really listening: you smile, nod politely and silence any shred of honest emotion while waiting for them to finish.
When it comes to arguments against Winterlicious, a festival designed to promote restaurant foot traffic during the slow winter season, the speech is always resentful. Servers complain that the loud and demanding crowds tip poorly and ruin a restaurant’s overall ambiance. Meanwhile, diners bemoan the event for making them feel like cattle being herded through a series of poorly executed dishes with food so tasteless it isn’t even worth its already discounted price. I sympathize with all of these grievances, and yet, Winterlicious, and its sister food festival Summerlicious, have always been treasured weeks in my calendar.
When I was younger, both prix fixe festivals allowed me to sit inside dining rooms I had previously only seen through Google image search, visiting eateries I was otherwise unable to afford. The food, often alarmingly with 75 per cent of their regular resources. At award-winning restaurant Canoe, District Executive Chef John Horne serves nearly 900 guests on an average Winterlicious Sunday – more than twice as many diners as the restaurant sees during regular service.
“You get the occasional diner who’s looking for a Michelin-starred experience, but you have to understand the context of the situation and take it with a grain of salt,” says Horne. “We’re feeding a huge amount of people at a reduced price. You’re not going to serve foie gras. But you can take that foie gras and put it in a sauce or terrine; you can play within the limitations to create something original and delicious.”
After creating menus for Winterlicious since its inception in 2003, Horne has perfected the restrictive art of the prix fixe menu. In Toronto, Canoe’s Winter and Summerlicious reservations are among the most sought after reservations in the city, often filling up in a matter of hours.
Local service industries across the country have found similar success by also offering promotional prix fixe programs. In Montreal, the sixth annual MTLàTABLE helped increase revenue at over a hundred of the city’s