Stacy's Pita Chips: Stacy Madison In the 1990's, Stacy Madison and her boyfriend Mark Andrus were selling pita sandwiches from a converted hot dog cart in Boston. They decided to bake the leftover pita into chips, adding a dash of parmesan or cinnamon-sugar. At first they handed them out for free, but soon discovered that people were happy to pay for them. So they eventually decided to leave the sandwich cart behind and launch Stacy's Pita Chips. They hoped the brand might grow into a modest regional business—but it kept growing. Roughly ten years after the launch, Stacy's sold to PepsiCo for $250 million. PLUS in our postscript "How You Built That," how Prerak Juthani and some friends from college took organic chemistry to the next level with REACT!, a board game that aims to demystify the stigma of molecular science.
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Stacy's Pita Chips: Stacy Madison

Stacy's Pita Chips: Stacy Madison

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Phuong Nguyen for NPR
Stacy Madison is the co-founder of Stacy&#039;s Pita Chips
Phuong Nguyen for NPR

In the 1990's, Stacy Madison and her boyfriend Mark Andrus were selling pita sandwiches from a converted hot dog cart in Boston.

They decided to bake the leftover pita into chips, adding a dash of parmesan or cinnamon-sugar.

At first they handed them out for free, but soon discovered that people were happy to pay for them.

So they eventually decided to leave the sandwich cart behind and launch Stacy's Pita Chips.

They hoped the brand might grow into a modest regional business—but it kept growing.

Roughly ten years after the launch, Stacy's sold to PepsiCo for $250 million.

How You Built That

How Prerak Juthani and some friends from college took organic chemistry to the next level with REACT!, a board game that aims to demystify the stigma of molecular science.

How You Built That: REACT!

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/726755480/726769476" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Special Series

How I Built This

For all new episodes, go to the How I Built This page on Wondery.com Listen early and ad-free on Wondery+ Listen on Amazon Music