The Inventor Of The Frozen Burrito Has Passed Away—Here’s The Story Behind His Legacy

On November 1, the food world lost Duane Roberts, the man credited with inventing the world’s first-ever mass-marketed frozen burrito. In a statement shared by his wife, Kelly J. Roberts, he passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 88. 

Roberts began his career as a teen working at his parent’s meat company, Butcher Boy Food Products, Inc., which primarily focused on selling frozen hamburger patties. During the 1950s, at the suggestion of an employee, Roberts began experimenting with burritos, successfully creating the world’s first commercially available frozen burrito in 1956. 

He was named company president in 1964, eventually turning it into the largest frozen Mexican-food manufacturer in the world. At the time, Butcher Boy produced over a million frozen burritos daily, and at its peak, brought in $80 million in annual sales before the family sold the company in 1980. 

Roberts would later become a billionaire through investments, stocks and bonds, and real estate. To learn about his life, Pepperdine University, where he was dean of the Caruso School of Law, shared a heartfelt in memoriam.