Huy Fong Foods, maker of Sriracha sauce that comes in bottles decorated with a green cap, says it has halted production until after Labor Day, raising fears of another shortage.
The California company blamed problems with producing the popular condiment on the red jalapeno pepper, which provides a sweet, tangy heat to the hot sauce. They are not red enough, according to Huy Fong Foods.
“After re-evaluating our supply of chili peppers, we have determined that they are too green to proceed with production because it affects the color of the product,” he told a wholesale buyer in a letter this week obtained by USA TODAY. Huy Fong Foods does not sell directly to consumers.
The message continued: “We regret to inform you that we have decided to halt production until after Labor Day, when the next chili pepper season begins.”
It could be a nice summer. Previous shortages of red jalapenos made it nearly impossible to find Huy Fong Food’s Sriracha sauce. The company’s garlic and chili sauce and sambal oelek were also affected.
“Unfortunately, all orders that were scheduled to start on May 6, 2024 will be canceled and the status changed to pending,” Huy Fong Foods said.
When asked about the production issues, Huy Fong Foods told USA TODAY via email: “At this time, we have no comment.”
Will there be a shortage of Huy Fong Foods Sriracha?
Fellow Sriracha makers are gushing over red jalapenos and have reported no problems producing the hot peppers, according to Stephanie Walker, a professor and extension vegetable specialist at New Mexico State University.
She believes that Huy Fong Foods, which has been producing chiles in Mexico, has not yet established strong relationships with reliable jalapeño growers.
“I’ve heard firsthand that they’ve tried to recruit new growers so they have a reliable flow of jalapenos, and it seems they haven’t had complete success yet,” said Walker, who is co-director of her university’s jalapeno division. Chile Pepper Institute.
The root of the Sriracha problem: a dispute with the supplier
Underwood Ranches, based in California, was Huy Fong’s sole supplier of jalapeños for decades until the partnership collapsed in 2017 over a financial dispute.
Two years later, a jury determined that Huy Fong violated its contract with Underwood Ranches and committed fraud, awarding Underwood $23.3 million. Now Underwood Ranches produces a competing brand of Sriracha sauce.
Hand-picked, chile peppers are a labor-intensive crop. Huy Fong Foods goes through about 50,000 tons of chili peppers annually to make its hot sauces.
“Growing hot peppers or jalapenos is a difficult crop. You definitely need experience and knowledge of how to harvest the crop,” Walker said.
Red jalapenos are the key to delicious Sriracha
Huy Fong told retail customers that the color of its Sriracha sauce was influenced by jalapenos harvested too early, but not the quality and flavor.
However, using red jalapenos that are picked when they are still green would change the taste, according to Walker. When ripe, red jalapenos tend to be sweeter and have a more complex flavor. When I worked in the industry, the Walker processing plant rejected any red jalapeno peppers that had more than 5% green color.
“Red and green jalapenos come from the same plant. Green fruit is just immature fruit, and when they are physiologically mature, they turn red,” Walker said. “One of the reasons there is this strict 5% limit is because green fruit can “It dilutes the color but also affects the flavour.”
Huy Fong fans: Get ready to run down the Sriracha
The Huy Fong Sriracha empire dates back to the end of the Vietnam War when David Tran moved to Los Angeles and decided to get into the Sriracha business. By 1980, he was making deliveries in a blue Chevy truck. The Sriracha produced by his company in Irwindale, Calif., has been a staple for hot sauce lovers ever since.
But the long, painful shortages that have plagued Hui Fong in recent years have frustrated fans who have begged for bottles on social media, stolen them from restaurants or paid exorbitant prices to season bowls of pho and ramen or trays of sushi rolls.
As bottles reappeared on grocery shelves, restaurant tables, and households stocked again, the severity of stomach pains subsided. But some Sriracha fans say they’re still scarred and that old storage habits fade easily.
“how many Bottles of hot sauce In the kitchen cupboard too many? “Ask for a friend,” a Huy Fong fan recently posted on X.
Another replied: My friend is Vietnamese. I just counted 16 in the pantry, two in the refrigerator, and one in the lazy susan. He’s not done with the Huy Fong Sriracha shortage yet. “
“Devoted student. Bacon advocate. Beer scholar. Troublemaker. Falls down a lot. Typical coffee enthusiast.”