There is finally a quieter, smaller version of Doritos crisps for women

Women who love tortilla snacks but have been put off by the ear-shatteringly loud volume of crunch involved will at last have a product suited to their needs.

PepsiCo, the company behind Doritos, has announced a new lady-friendly version of the crisps that will fit neatly into a handbag.

"You watch a lot of the young guys eat the chips, they love their Doritos, and they lick their fingers with great glee, and when they reach the bottom of the bag they pour the little broken pieces into their mouth, because they don't want to lose that taste of the flavour, and the broken chips in the bottom," Indra Nooya, global chief executive of PepsiCo told Freakonomics Radio.

"Women would love to do the same, but they don't. They don't like to crunch too loudly in public. And they don't lick their fingers,"

'Purse-friendly snacks'

She added: "It’s not [a question of] 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.

"For women [it’s about] low-crunch, the full taste profile, not having so much of the flavour on the fingers and how can you put it in a purse. Because women love to carry a snack in their purse."

However, some potential customers warned that the product could be a form of gender-baiting, encouraging women to eat the regular, apparently male-focused Doritos to prove themselves capable.

Tired stereotypes

Other campaigners slammed the shrunken package and its potential profit margin for PepsiCo.

A spokeswoman for the Women’s Equality Party said: “Companies that perpetuate these tired gender stereotypes will continue to lose out on the single biggest consumer group: women.

“No doubt some male consumers will welcome the chance to have a bigger package. But the idea of shrinking products for women, no doubt for the same price, is as old as the 'ad men' making these decisions.”

This article originally appeared in our sister title iNews