Takis: History, Flavors & Facts

Snack History Nostalgia Rating: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Takis is a rolled corn tortilla chip that was invented in the year 1999, Takis is an intensely flavored snack, focusing on being spicy and having a powerful kick in its brands’ flavor lineup. Some of Takis flavors are Nitro, Xplosion and its mainstay flavor, Fuego (Fire). Takis has taken the North American continent by storm, quickly climbing from obscurity to popularity. Takis are shaped like small tortillas and seek to be viewed as a type of chip in the snack market. The chips found in a bag of Takis tend to be red and orange in color, although some flavors such as Guacamole are more yellowish-lime green in color.

Takis tends to go for the more “loud” approach in both its flavor and packaging design. Takis fulfills a rare role in the snack market, fitting into a niche that many never knew existed, that being the niche of small rolled corn tortilla chips.

History And General Information

Takis is called a rolled corn tortilla chip snack and is shaped much like small tortillas. Takis does not look like the typical “chip” but is being labeled as that anyway, despite looking more like a mini tortilla of sorts. Takis is often compared to Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in terms of its spiciness, although Takis is a much more dense and crunchy snack than crunchy Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Takis is said to be invented by a person named Morgan Sanchez, though little information about this person and how exactly did they invent Takis could be found. It does appear that Takis was invented in the year 1999 in Mexico, before being introduced into the United States in the year 2006.

Takis is owned by Barcel, a subsidiary of Grupo Bimbo, one of the words largest baking companies. Not so well known in the United States compared to companies like Nestle or Hershey, Barcel and its Takis snack brand had to find a way to get inside the snack market and become known. Takis worked its way into consumers’ hearts and minds through small stores and gas stations, becoming popular with the teenage crowd for its spiciness and the daring of those who tried the popularized snack.

Some concerns about Takis are that some of its flavors may contain a high amount of citric acid, and there have been claims of younger people and children getting stomach sick from going past their limit with how many Takis they can eat at once. Regardless of some concerns about overeating too many Takis at once, this snack has a huge fan base and some people do enjoy indulging themselves in a large amount of this tortilla chip snack

Takis is praised for being an innovative and unique snack, winning awards for its innovation, and creating a slice in the market for itself. While it does not appear that Takis manufacturer, Barcel, gives out its sales information, the Barcel company did win an innovation award for Takis from an organization called Nielsen that had a requirement of a product that generated a minimum of $50 million in first-year sales in the U.S. market while sustaining at least 90 percent of those sales in the second year.

Takis was originally intended by Barcel to be aimed towards the Hispanic demographic of the snack market, as the lime flavor is popular in regions around Mexico and Central America. However, the enjoyment of Takis has spread like wildfire among the youth of the United States, with Takis appealing strongly to the teenage and young adult crowd. Some have suggested that the tendency for Takis to be spicy and sour creates an urge to keep eating, in contrast to more cheesy snack products such as Cheetos Puffs or Smartfood Popcorn.

Takis flavors tend to include varieties such as Fuego, which translates in Spanish to “Fire”, as well as flavors such as Salsa Brava and Guacamole. These flavors tend to taste fairly salty and spicy, depending on the exact flavor in question. New flavors do get released from time to time, such as “Zombie” flavored Takis, which have the taste of Habanero and Cucumber. Takis appears to be most well known for its flavor Fuego, and its corresponding purple-colored packaging that has become a familiar sight to its fans.

Takis has engaged in a limited amount of advertising, such as a smattering of tours and commercials. Takis’s YouTube channel shows 28 videos at the time of this writing in late 2019, with some of those videos being short commercials, others more full-fledged commercials, and some tours and promotional stuns to promote the Takis brand. Overall Takis advertisement has been somewhat tame, though their growth may suggest that perhaps their strategy is not to need marketing as much as other brands, such a Skittles, that market heavily. A comment on Takis Twitter said in 2018 that the company was not offering sponsorship at that time, though it may have just been a joke to a fan’s comment.

If Takis chooses not to engage in sponsorship, it would be in sharp contrast to a snack brand such as Slim Jim, which thrives on funding things such as sponsorship for extreme sports or actions sports, although Takis has themes of intensity that they project at greater lengths then most snack brands. Takis however sought sales growth from finding customers inside places like gas station stores, so perhaps marketing to the Takis brand is not as critical in terms of commercials or sponsorship of others; Or perhaps the brand is still young and is bidding its time before going for larger scale promotional activity.

The name Takis may not be Takis’s true original name, it may have once been called Taquis, though little confirmation of that could be found and it may just be a rumor. Takis originated in Mexico, and it is not unthinkable that its name could have changed when it was released within the U.S. Takis is also a name that is sometimes given as a Greek name for a child.

As for the snack Takis, it is an engaging snack with a strong taste and a strong fan base. Takis has enjoyed a degree of success from breaking into a little-known area of the snack and candy industry and finding its place there. The company that produces Takis, Barcel, and also Barcel’s parent company Grupo Bimbo, makes a range of other snacks and candies products in addition to Takis.

The Company That Makes Takis

The company that makes the 90s candy Takis is Barcel, they are a snack food company that produces products such as Churritos, Toreadas, and Kiyakis. Barcel is owned by Grupo Bimbo, a large Mexican multinational food manufacturing company. Grupo Bimbo has a small polar bear as a candy mascot and is known for being one of the largest food manufacturers in the world, operating some of the largest bakeries in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Spain as of 2019.

The Year Takis Was Invented

Takis was invented in the year 1999 and was first released into the Mexican snack market. Takis was introduced into the American snack market in the year 2006, where it quickly became popularized in the U.S.

The Inventor Of Takis

Several sources report that the inventor of Takis is an individual named Morgan Sanchez, but little information to confirm this exists. Takis may have been invented by someone in the employ of the company Barcel, who appears to have owned the product since its beginnings.

Slogans

The Takis brand has made use of the Slogan, “Are you Takis enough?”, spawning from one of their commercials. This tagline seems to have caught on with some of their fans and helps reinforce the brand’s image. The saying you “are you Takis enough” helps link the mindset that the brand seems to want, to come off as a bold snack with a bold range of flavors.

Takis Wild (Spicy Buffalo) Review

This review is for Takis Wild, which has the flavor of spicy buffalo. This version has a blue bag with a picture of hot sauce and fire, and it already gives a hint of what’s to come before eating Takis Wild. The color of Takis Wild’s tortilla chips is orange-red and is coated with flakes of some type of spice. Bitting into Takis Wild, the texture is firm but easy to bite into.

The tortilla chips seemed fresh and did not resist biting much and were crunchy. The buffalo flavor was apparent, though much as an after taste. At first taste, you don’t notice too much, but in a few seconds, you have a fairly spicy buffalo flavor. It’s not too hot, but for some, it’s something you may wish to get a drink for.

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Takis Fuego Review

For this review, we will cover Takis Fuego, which comes in the brand’s famed purple packaging. Takis Fuego has a picture of fire burning its Takis chips/sticks on the packaging, suggesting it will be hot. Opening the bag and taking a bite, it is confirmed to be hot. Takis Fuego is not the hottest food item ever created, but it is very spicy and produces a strong chemical heat reaction in your mouth.

This product will leave you searching for a drink, and we found Sprite to be a handy refreshment to counteract the hotness of this product. The lemon-lime flavor of the Sprite also went well with the lime and chili pepper flavor of Takis Fuego. The color of Takis Fuego’s chips is deep red and the chips are covered with spices. This product may not be the hottest snack ever made, but it sure made me sweat around the neck area. This snack does deliver on its promise to give a hot chili pepper and lime flavor experience.

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Takis Guacamole Review

This review is for Takis Guacamole. This flavor has an extraordinary tangy taste that gives an after taste of just a lightly salted corn tortilla but only a bit crunchier. Not only does it taste closely to guacamole, but it has the perfect hint of lime and a little spice. Seeing this bright white bag of guacamole avocado greenish tortilla chip makes my mouth water a bit. You will be able to enjoy this wonderful flavor without having to worry about your mouth being on fire, as it’s not spicy. To my surprise, this flavor satisfied my taste buds more than I expected.

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Takis Nitro Review

This review is for the Takis Nitro Habanero & Lime tortilla chip. The red bag with the picture of habanero pepper and lime indicates what’s to come before eating, a spicy experience. The color of Takis nitro habanero &lime is a fiery red and hints at the fact that it’s a hot snack. Within the first few bites of this spicy tortilla chip, you instantly taste the lime attempting to overpower the flaming hot spice. Which will leave a sizzling burning sensation so please keep an ice-cold beverage near. This is a crunchy snack, but easy to bite into.

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Takis Crunchy Fajitas Review

This review is for Takis Crunchy Fajitas Flavor, which comes in a green bag. The dark green bag with a fire symbol indicating that it is extremely hot is not as accurate as I had expected. The tortilla chip is lightly coated with just enough flavor to be of note. To my surprise, this product was not at all spicy to my senses, though it does have a dark reddish-brown color that made me think it would be spicy. Crunchy fajitas chip has a similar taste to Fritos corn chips and has a similar crunch to it as well.

Takis Flavors

Here is a list of the different flavors of Takis

• Fuego
• Guacamole
• Nitro
• Wild
• Angry Burger flavor
• Titan flavor
• Lava flavor
• Xtra Hot
• BBQ Pieante Takis
• Crunchy Fajita
• Xplosion flavor Takis
• Salsa Brava
• Fugeo Azul Takis
• Blue Flame Takis
• Takis Zombie flavor
• Takis Blue Heat
• Bland Broccoli flavored Takis

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients of Takis.

• Corn Masa Flour (Processed With Lime)
• Soybean and/or Palm and/or Canola Oil
• Iodized Salt
• Sugar
• Natural and Artificial Flavour
• Citric Acid
• SOY Protein
• Yeast
• Monosodium Glutamate
• Malt dextrin
• Sodium Diacetate
• Partially Hydrogenated SOYABEAN Oil
• Artificial Colours (Red No. 40 Lake, Yellow No. 6 Lake)
• Onion Powder
• Hot Chili Pepper (Chile)
• Sodium Inosinate
• Silicon Dioxide (Anticaking)
• Antioxidant (BHT, Tbhq, Propylene Glycol, BHA)

Nutrition

Takis Fuego Serving Size:	13 pieces (30g)	% Daily Value*
Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat	74
Calories	156
Total Fat	8.2g	13%
Saturated Fat	1.2g	6%
Trans Fat	0.1g
Polyunsaturated Fat	3.7g
Monounsaturated Fat	2.7g
Cholesterol	0mg	0%
Sodium	207mg	9%
Potassium	67mg	2%
Total Carbohydrates	18g	6%
Dietary Fiber	1.5g	6%
Sugars	0.8g
Protein	2.2g
Vitamin A		0.7%
Vitamin C		0.2%
Calcium		3.2%
Iron		1.9%

• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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