Ongoing Sriracha shortage even after a year keeps palates cool and prices high. The popular Sriracha hot sauce made by California’s Huy Fong Foods continues to be in short supply. If you want the spice, be prepared to pay the price.
It’s not just you. Sriracha is hard to come by these days, at least for one popular brand and if you do get it, pay the spiraling Huy Fong sriracha price.
For Huy Fong Foods sriracha shortage isn’t new. The beloved red hot sauce packaged in those green-capped bottles had been facing scarcity of chile pepper supply for several years now. And as frustrated fans continue to face sriracha hot sauce shortage on the shelves and missing the Huy Fong name, third-party resellers are punching up prices.
Why there is Huy Fong Foods sriracha shortage
The iconic sriracha hot sauce made by California’s Huy Fong Foods continues to be in short supply this summer. Huy Fong Foods sriracha shortage is due to unavailability of the chili. Huy Fong stopped production of the sauce last summer citing a shortage of red jalapeño chiles caused by climate change in Mexico. The brand reportedly resumed limited production in the fall, “but is still experiencing a short supply of the chili pepper,” according to forbes.com.
Huy Fong foods sriracha shortage is mainly due to short supply of raw materials as stated by the company to the Associated Press this week. It continues to be beset by, echoing a similar scarcity last year when the company temporarily suspended sales of Sriracha and other popular products like Chili Garlic and Sambal Oelek.
Huy Fong said on Wednesday that “limited production” resumed recently, although the California Company didn’t specify by how much or provide an estimate of when it believes suppliers will be able to deliver an adequate number of peppers.
“Because we do not sell directly to retail/market levels, we cannot determine when the product will hit shelves again and/or who currently has the product in stock,” Huy Fong said in a prepared statement. “We are grateful for your continued patience and understanding during this unprecedented inventory shortage.”
Shortage leading to increased price
Good luck finding that distinctive bottle bearing a green cap and image of a strutting rooster anywhere in town. The product is currently listed as “out of stock” on many websites.
Huy Fong sriracha price used to be under $5 or $10 a bottle, but due to the sriracha hot sauce shortage, it is now selling for shocking amounts in some listings posted to sites with vast third-party marketplaces including Amazon, eBay and Walmart. Many are simply sold out.
Even if you can track the trendy condiment down, it’ll cost you dearly. A pair of 17-ounce bottles of sriracha sauce cost $83.99 on Walmart’s website on Wednesday afternoon. A bargain hunter could pay $29.50 for a 9-ounce bottle as sriracha sauce cost at amazon.com, but shipping could take until the end of August.
Black market due to sriracha shortage
There is a better chance of finding the spicy sauce on the black market. Facebook Marketplace user Brian Cato posted an ad in San Antonio reading, “Unopened Sriracha. News tonight said going for $120 a bottle. I’ve seen it on eBay for 300. I’m saying $100 OBO.” Cato’s price for the 28-ounce bottle has since been cut to $80. Similar Facebook ads from across Texas are seeking $20 for a 9-gram packet and $30 for a 17-ounce bottle.
Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha history
While sriracha sauce and Huy Fong Foods are synonymous in the United States, the condiment predates Huy Fong’s 1980 founding by at least four decades.
In 2013, a story was published in “Bon Appetit” magazine by Andrea Nguyen that stated the sauce was first developed by Thanom Chakkapak in the community of Si Racha in Thailand. Chakkapak, made the sauce for her family and friends, who encouraged her to produce the spicy elixir commercially. Chakkapak’s sauce would go on to become the best-selling chile sauce in Thailand.
Is sriracha shortage faced by other companies
There’s a myriad of hot sauces, including near-countless variations of sriracha sauce exist in the U.S. market. Tabasco, for example, has created a page dedicated to helping customers find nearby stores that sell its brand of Sriracha. The sriracha sauce cost is reasonable. H-E-B lists a half dozen options from bottlers including Diamondback, Polar, Roland and Yellowbird, among others, all priced between 3 to 6 dollars. And right now, with the sriracha hot sauce shortage, that sounds like one sweet deal for a hot and spicy time
