Today we're bringing you a rare behind-the-scenes look at a collaboration between two giant American food brands: Taco Bell and Cheez-It. (And no, they’re not paying us to do it — we’re just obsessed with how big companies come up with new foods!) This past summer, Taco Bell debuted the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and the Big Cheez-It Tostada. These menu items may sound like they were dreamt up in a dorm room, but getting them to market was actually a yearslong process, involving hundreds of people, and the launch didn’t quite go as planned. Two food product developers — one from Taco Bell and one from Cheez-It — walk us through how it all went down. Then we head to Taco Bell for a taste test of our own.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell. Transcription by Emily Nguyen.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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