4 ms·

Product trumps marketing. Justice in the hot sauce industry!

parineum 5y ago
Sriracha is really interesting to me. I don't know when exactly it became what it is today but I remember always getting it at the takeout Chinese places in the late 90s, referring to it as rooster sauce (occasionally cock sauce, for those excessively juvenile times). Everyone I knew already knew what it was and nearly everyone liked it but, for reasons completely unknown to me, one day it made it's way out of those cheap Chinese restaurants and into the mainstream. It's still a mystery to me. The only explanation I really have is that I grew up in the LA metro area and, I'm pretty sure, it's manufactured there. Perhaps it was ubiquitous locally and the popularity has to do with them expanding their footprint.
- inafewwords 5y ago
  Likely had to do with the size of their manufacturing getting huge. Make sauce seasonally and then find places to put it. Since they sell it to distributors, those distributors suddenly had extra product to unload. For awhile during its rise in popularity rooster sauce bottles could only be bought from Asian restaurants in my area and not regular grocery stores
  - parineum 5y ago
    >For awhile during its rise in popularity rooster sauce bottles could only be bought from Asian restaurants in my area and not regular grocery stores I knew people who stole it from restaurants because that's the only place they could find it (and not for sale). It was probably available in Asian markets but a bunch of high school kids wouldn't have known that. It really is a marvel of word of mouth but it took decades for what I have to imagine would have taken much less time without sacrificing the quality of the product had they made an effort to spread the word. It just seems like they didn't want to but then I find it strange that they expanded manufacturing so much. That seems at odds.
- tomnipotent 5y ago
  > I grew up in the LA metro area I moved to LA from Seattle in 2001, and Sriracha was everywhere and in every manner of restaurant. No one I knew from the Pacific Northwest seemed to have heard of it, but twenty years later they certainly have. > it's manufactured there It is, and the factory was even forced to close for a little bit in 2014 due to "air quality" concerns. Was a real hoot to watch everyone scramble to buy a few bottles in case they didn't re-open quickly.
  - bobsil1 5y ago
    I would totally be a hot sauce prepper.
- pessimizer 5y ago
  It got caught in a hipster trend wave about ten years ago, and it snowballed as other products tried to associate themselves with it by marketing sriracha-flavored versions. After that, it was in recipe books. There was not only no real reason for them to spend money on marketing, they probably made money from licensing their bottle in other people's advertisements.
jollybean 5y ago
There's no reason to believe they have the best product. They're an established brand that has created channel dominance and some kind of consumer expectations. Basically, they've worked the channels relentlessly and consistently for decades. RedBull could have spent $0 on normal ads we understand them and probably be in the same position they are. The pricing power they have is just incredible.

Sriracha is really interesting to me. I don't know when exactly it became what it is today but I remember always getting it at the takeout Chinese places in the late 90s, referring to it as rooster sauce (occasionally cock sauce, for those excessively juvenile times). Everyone I knew already knew what it was and nearly everyone liked it but, for reasons completely unknown to me, one day it made it's way out of those cheap Chinese restaurants and into the mainstream. It's still a mystery to me. The only explanation I really have is that I grew up in the LA metro area and, I'm pretty sure, it's manufactured there. Perhaps it was ubiquitous locally and the popularity has to do with them expanding their footprint.

inafewwords 5y ago
Likely had to do with the size of their manufacturing getting huge. Make sauce seasonally and then find places to put it. Since they sell it to distributors, those distributors suddenly had extra product to unload. For awhile during its rise in popularity rooster sauce bottles could only be bought from Asian restaurants in my area and not regular grocery stores
- parineum 5y ago
  >For awhile during its rise in popularity rooster sauce bottles could only be bought from Asian restaurants in my area and not regular grocery stores I knew people who stole it from restaurants because that's the only place they could find it (and not for sale). It was probably available in Asian markets but a bunch of high school kids wouldn't have known that. It really is a marvel of word of mouth but it took decades for what I have to imagine would have taken much less time without sacrificing the quality of the product had they made an effort to spread the word. It just seems like they didn't want to but then I find it strange that they expanded manufacturing so much. That seems at odds.
tomnipotent 5y ago
> I grew up in the LA metro area I moved to LA from Seattle in 2001, and Sriracha was everywhere and in every manner of restaurant. No one I knew from the Pacific Northwest seemed to have heard of it, but twenty years later they certainly have. > it's manufactured there It is, and the factory was even forced to close for a little bit in 2014 due to "air quality" concerns. Was a real hoot to watch everyone scramble to buy a few bottles in case they didn't re-open quickly.
- bobsil1 5y ago
  I would totally be a hot sauce prepper.
pessimizer 5y ago
It got caught in a hipster trend wave about ten years ago, and it snowballed as other products tried to associate themselves with it by marketing sriracha-flavored versions. After that, it was in recipe books. There was not only no real reason for them to spend money on marketing, they probably made money from licensing their bottle in other people's advertisements.

jollybean 5y ago

There's no reason to believe they have the best product. They're an established brand that has created channel dominance and some kind of consumer expectations. Basically, they've worked the channels relentlessly and consistently for decades. RedBull could have spent $0 on normal ads we understand them and probably be in the same position they are. The pricing power they have is just incredible.