Lay’s Chips Are Getting a Major Makeover: Here’s What’s Changing by 2025

Lay’s is undergoing its biggest transformation in nearly a century. By the end of 2025, the iconic chip brand will eliminate all artificial flavors and colors from its entire U.S. portfolio, including Lay’s Classic, Lay’s Baked, and Lay’s Kettle Cooked varieties. The move is part of a sweeping initiative by parent company PepsiCo to align with evolving consumer preferences and regulatory shifts, including the FDA’s push to phase out synthetic food dyes.

Instead of artificial additives, Lay’s chips will be flavored and colored using natural ingredients such as spices, fruit and vegetable extracts, yeast, herbs, and plant-based colorings like paprika and vegetable juice.

Recipe Updates for Baked and Kettle Cooked

In addition to removing artificial ingredients, Lay’s is updating the cooking oils used in some of its products:

• Lay’s Baked chips will now be made with olive oil instead of corn oil
• Lay’s Kettle Cooked Reduced Fat Original Sea Salt chips will switch to avocado oil, replacing the current blend of vegetable oils

These changes aim to reduce fat content and offer cleaner label options for health-conscious consumers.

A Full Brand Redesign

Lay’s isn’t just changing what’s inside the bag—it’s revamping the outside too. The brand is rolling out its most ambitious visual refresh since its founding in 1938, with new packaging, logos, and photography that emphasize its farm-to-bag story.

Highlights of the redesign include:

• A modernized logo with more “Lay’s rays” to evoke sunlight and freshness
• A wood-paneled backdrop on packaging, nodding to potato crates and farm origins
• Close-up visuals of real potatoes and seasoning, reinforcing the brand’s natural ingredients
• A refined color palette inspired by the flavors themselves

The redesign will extend globally, affecting sister brands like Walkers (UK), Sabritas (Mexico), and Margarita (Colombia).

This overhaul positions Lay’s as a leader in the clean-label movement, responding to consumer demand for transparency and healthier snacking. PepsiCo executives say the refresh is a “love letter to our origins,” and a strategic move to reconnect with shoppers who may have drifted toward niche or premium snack brands.