11 ms·

What’s Going on with Sriracha?

58 points by thm 4y ago

jmpman 4y ago
Sriracha hasn’t tasted the same since they stopped using the jalapeños from Underwood ranch. I no longer use it as frequently as I use to. The complexity is missing. Tastes like I’m now eating the Kroger version.
grayd- 4y ago
[flagged]
rjbwork 4y ago
I had no idea. I've just finished my last bottle last evening. :(
- arez 4y ago
  there's still enough inventory, this news has no value because nobody is actually affected
  - willnonya 4y ago
    at least not until aome morons read about this on reddit and go buy truckloads for no reason.
  - danuker 4y ago
    Perhaps negative, because it will invite scalpers which will corner the market until next year. But it's a replaceable commodity. There are a million hot sauces made all over the world.
    - mrtranscendence 4y ago
      Not too much like it on grocery store shelves, at least in my area of the US, though. Most hot sauces I can find are vinegar-based concoctions (Tabasco, Cholula, Texas Pete, etc) that I find quite unpalatable. About the only other hot sauce I can find at Kroger that I can stand is Tapatio.
baal80spam 4y ago
I've read a few days ago that chili shortage is the reason.
the_biot 4y ago
This article is an interview with somebody who has no idea what the problem is. He just waffles on about the fact he made a documentary about the factory nine years ago.
- yunohn 4y ago
  Agreed, this is very low effort hearsay and speculation. Info directly from the company: https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/06/09/sriracha-shortage-huy-fong-foods/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/06/09/sriracha-shor...
  - bryans 4y ago
    The only information provided by the company was that there is a chili shortage and that production will resume at some point, with new orders being fulfilled after September. This post attempts to explain a little about the company's supply chain and consumer demand, by interviewing someone who has somewhat intimate knowledge of it. So, it is actually high effort speculation, which is all they could do given the available information.
    - yunohn 4y ago
      > by interviewing someone who has somewhat intimate knowledge of it Dude is literally a documentary maker. There is no special knowledge, and their response phrasing is highly speculative.
      - parkingrift 4y ago
        It’s not as if they found some random documentary maker. This person spent a ton of time with Huy Foods to make a documentary specifically about Sriracha. There isn’t a burgeoning field of Sriracha experts to talk with. I legitimately doubt there are other readily accessible people who have as much as knowledge as this documentary dude.
        4y ago
markdown 4y ago
How can a guy who made a documentary about this sauce call the chillies they're made from jalapeños?
- bryans 4y ago
  The chilis used to make Sriracha are red jalapenos, which are regular jalapenos left on the vine to mature.
- Hellbanevil 4y ago
  I bet he's getting paid by the company. I saw this sauce for years in questionable restaurants, but only in the last few years I seem to read about it all the time.
  - witheld 4y ago
    It’s peak of popularity was several years ago, I’m not sure how you missed it.
- throw0101a 4y ago
  What peppers do you think they are made of? > Huy Fong Foods' chili sauces are made from fresh, red, jalapeño chili peppers and contain no added water or artificial colors.[9] Garlic powder is used rather than fresh garlic.[10] The company formerly used serrano chilis, but found them difficult to harvest. To keep the sauce hot, the company produces only up to a monthly pre-sold quota in order to use only peppers from known sources.[4] * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce_(Huy_Fong_Foods) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce_(Huy_Fong_Foods... > It was due to a fateful phone call Underwood made to a mutual vendor of Trans that linked these two together at the beginning of Sriracha’s growth. That first year, they grew 50 acres of chiles for Huy Fong Foods (average yield: 30 tons per acre). Four years ago they were up to 17,000 tons, and today, after 26 years in business with Tran, Underwood Ranch grows 58,000 tons of the unique jalapeño chiles used exclusively by Huy Fong Foods. That’s 2,000 acres of farmland devoted to Sriracha alone, with plans to keep expanding. This is done two years in advance, so there’s time to find the right fields and to prep the soil for optimal growing conditions. * https://web.archive.org/web/20171022081321/http://farmtotablela.com/sriracha-from-the-farm-to-your-table/ https://web.archive.org/web/20171022081321/http://farmtotabl...
kayxspre 4y ago
And now I wish Thai producers step in and market the true Sriracha sauce. For context, Sriracha is a name of a district in Thailand. As it is classified as geographical name, it cannot be registered as a trademark on its own in both Thailand and USA (it can be used with other elements, such as logo, like what Huy Fong did, combining it with Chicken logo)
- walthamstow 4y ago
  Here in the UK the Thai-manufactuered Flying Goose brand is widely available and incredibly delicious. Much better tasting than the Californian brand IMO.
  - Matsta 4y ago
    I find most of the Thai brands to be too sweet. I prefer the Huy Fong as it has less sugar (I tried to compare the nutrition facts but the Huy Fong one is a bit BS). However I find most Asian products in the UK always seem to have crazy amounts of sugar in them which I'm not a huge fan of.
    - jefftk 4y ago
      > the Huy Fong one is a bit BS If you look at nutrition facts for larger containers it's about 9% sugar by weight. (It starts out higher in sugar, but some of that is consumed during fermentation.)
      - Matsta 4y ago
        Nice find! Yep I read about fermentation as well. I'm neither a huge fan of sweet or vinegary hot sauces so I usually find Sriracha or Mexican hot sauces (eg. El Yucateco) as my go to's.
        konfusinomicon 4y ago
        El Yucateco kutbil-ik xxx hot sauce is my number one. it's so damn hot, and the flavor is unmatched. the black special reserve one is next level too. at this point my cellular makeup is roughly 20% habanero because of them.
relyks 4y ago
The article from Axios explains the issue a lot better: https://www.axios.com/2022/06/08/sriracha-shortage-2022-chili-peppers https://www.axios.com/2022/06/08/sriracha-shortage-2022-chil... Basically, there's been a consistent drought in Mexico that has affected the yield of chili peppers.
- bryans 4y ago
  Both articles contain the same details. The OP mentions Mexico's drought in the first paragraph.
- formerkrogemp 4y ago
  As the Atlantic overturning meridional circulation slows down, we can expect more la niña weather cycles and droughts in Mexico and California.
throw0101a 4y ago
It should be noted that there are sriracha sauces available from companies besides Huy Fong Foods (rooster logo). America's Test Kitchen did a taste testing recently: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBLvKe9vors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBLvKe9vors The majority of testers preferred Kikkoman (which is a little spicier than the 'original' Huy Fong, which came second).
ncmncm 4y ago
What I look for in a hot sauces is, (1) pepper is first ingredient, and (2) only other ingredients are vinegar and salt. Sriracha does not qualify.
- finiteseries 4y ago
  It’s actually interesting how little I’ve experienced this sort of aggressively close minded purism in cuisines that tend to use heat and/or hot sauce, to the point this comment feels genuinely “off”. At least IME “al gusto” type takes on food are the overwhelming vibe, quite far from the ancient buffalo milk dairies producing PGI cheese or whatever. It might honestly be difficult to stick to pure chile x vinegar x salt hot sauces in eg the Caribbean as well, everyone and their mother tends to add something special!
  - ncmncm 4y ago
    You can add anything you like, after. Getting it out is impossible.
    - finiteseries 4y ago
      Fermentation and the texture of laurel leaves sadly prevents that, but it does create the exciting opportunity to simply buy/make different sauces for different flavors and moods!
- witheld 4y ago
  So you only like generic hot sauce like Tobasco and Buffalo sauce, very interesting.
  - ncmncm 4y ago
    Tabasco lists vinegar first. When I buy pepper sauce, I am buying it for the pepper. So, I want it to be the first ingredient. That is actually remarkably rare. Apparently vinegar is cheaper. Never seen Buffalo.

58 points by thm 4y ago

Sriracha hasn’t tasted the same since they stopped using the jalapeños from Underwood ranch. I no longer use it as frequently as I use to. The complexity is missing. Tastes like I’m now eating the Kroger version.

grayd- 4y ago

[flagged]

rjbwork 4y ago

I had no idea. I've just finished my last bottle last evening. :(

arez 4y ago
there's still enough inventory, this news has no value because nobody is actually affected
- willnonya 4y ago
  at least not until aome morons read about this on reddit and go buy truckloads for no reason.
- danuker 4y ago
  Perhaps negative, because it will invite scalpers which will corner the market until next year. But it's a replaceable commodity. There are a million hot sauces made all over the world.
  - mrtranscendence 4y ago
    Not too much like it on grocery store shelves, at least in my area of the US, though. Most hot sauces I can find are vinegar-based concoctions (Tabasco, Cholula, Texas Pete, etc) that I find quite unpalatable. About the only other hot sauce I can find at Kroger that I can stand is Tapatio.

baal80spam 4y ago

I've read a few days ago that chili shortage is the reason.

the_biot 4y ago

This article is an interview with somebody who has no idea what the problem is. He just waffles on about the fact he made a documentary about the factory nine years ago.

yunohn 4y ago
Agreed, this is very low effort hearsay and speculation. Info directly from the company: https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/06/09/sriracha-shortage-huy-fong-foods/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/06/09/sriracha-shor...
- bryans 4y ago
  The only information provided by the company was that there is a chili shortage and that production will resume at some point, with new orders being fulfilled after September. This post attempts to explain a little about the company's supply chain and consumer demand, by interviewing someone who has somewhat intimate knowledge of it. So, it is actually high effort speculation, which is all they could do given the available information.
  - yunohn 4y ago
    > by interviewing someone who has somewhat intimate knowledge of it Dude is literally a documentary maker. There is no special knowledge, and their response phrasing is highly speculative.
    - parkingrift 4y ago
      It’s not as if they found some random documentary maker. This person spent a ton of time with Huy Foods to make a documentary specifically about Sriracha. There isn’t a burgeoning field of Sriracha experts to talk with. I legitimately doubt there are other readily accessible people who have as much as knowledge as this documentary dude.
      - 4y ago

markdown 4y ago

How can a guy who made a documentary about this sauce call the chillies they're made from jalapeños?

bryans 4y ago
The chilis used to make Sriracha are red jalapenos, which are regular jalapenos left on the vine to mature.
Hellbanevil 4y ago
I bet he's getting paid by the company. I saw this sauce for years in questionable restaurants, but only in the last few years I seem to read about it all the time.
- witheld 4y ago
  It’s peak of popularity was several years ago, I’m not sure how you missed it.
throw0101a 4y ago
What peppers do you think they are made of? > Huy Fong Foods' chili sauces are made from fresh, red, jalapeño chili peppers and contain no added water or artificial colors.[9] Garlic powder is used rather than fresh garlic.[10] The company formerly used serrano chilis, but found them difficult to harvest. To keep the sauce hot, the company produces only up to a monthly pre-sold quota in order to use only peppers from known sources.[4] * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce_(Huy_Fong_Foods) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce_(Huy_Fong_Foods... > It was due to a fateful phone call Underwood made to a mutual vendor of Trans that linked these two together at the beginning of Sriracha’s growth. That first year, they grew 50 acres of chiles for Huy Fong Foods (average yield: 30 tons per acre). Four years ago they were up to 17,000 tons, and today, after 26 years in business with Tran, Underwood Ranch grows 58,000 tons of the unique jalapeño chiles used exclusively by Huy Fong Foods. That’s 2,000 acres of farmland devoted to Sriracha alone, with plans to keep expanding. This is done two years in advance, so there’s time to find the right fields and to prep the soil for optimal growing conditions. * https://web.archive.org/web/20171022081321/http://farmtotablela.com/sriracha-from-the-farm-to-your-table/ https://web.archive.org/web/20171022081321/http://farmtotabl...

kayxspre 4y ago

And now I wish Thai producers step in and market the true Sriracha sauce. For context, Sriracha is a name of a district in Thailand. As it is classified as geographical name, it cannot be registered as a trademark on its own in both Thailand and USA (it can be used with other elements, such as logo, like what Huy Fong did, combining it with Chicken logo)

walthamstow 4y ago
Here in the UK the Thai-manufactuered Flying Goose brand is widely available and incredibly delicious. Much better tasting than the Californian brand IMO.
- Matsta 4y ago
  I find most of the Thai brands to be too sweet. I prefer the Huy Fong as it has less sugar (I tried to compare the nutrition facts but the Huy Fong one is a bit BS). However I find most Asian products in the UK always seem to have crazy amounts of sugar in them which I'm not a huge fan of.
  - jefftk 4y ago
    > the Huy Fong one is a bit BS If you look at nutrition facts for larger containers it's about 9% sugar by weight. (It starts out higher in sugar, but some of that is consumed during fermentation.)
    - Matsta 4y ago
      Nice find! Yep I read about fermentation as well. I'm neither a huge fan of sweet or vinegary hot sauces so I usually find Sriracha or Mexican hot sauces (eg. El Yucateco) as my go to's.
      - konfusinomicon 4y ago
        El Yucateco kutbil-ik xxx hot sauce is my number one. it's so damn hot, and the flavor is unmatched. the black special reserve one is next level too. at this point my cellular makeup is roughly 20% habanero because of them.

relyks 4y ago

The article from Axios explains the issue a lot better: https://www.axios.com/2022/06/08/sriracha-shortage-2022-chili-peppers https://www.axios.com/2022/06/08/sriracha-shortage-2022-chil... Basically, there's been a consistent drought in Mexico that has affected the yield of chili peppers.

bryans 4y ago
Both articles contain the same details. The OP mentions Mexico's drought in the first paragraph.
formerkrogemp 4y ago
As the Atlantic overturning meridional circulation slows down, we can expect more la niña weather cycles and droughts in Mexico and California.

throw0101a 4y ago

It should be noted that there are sriracha sauces available from companies besides Huy Fong Foods (rooster logo). America's Test Kitchen did a taste testing recently: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBLvKe9vors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBLvKe9vors The majority of testers preferred Kikkoman (which is a little spicier than the 'original' Huy Fong, which came second).

ncmncm 4y ago

What I look for in a hot sauces is, (1) pepper is first ingredient, and (2) only other ingredients are vinegar and salt. Sriracha does not qualify.

finiteseries 4y ago
It’s actually interesting how little I’ve experienced this sort of aggressively close minded purism in cuisines that tend to use heat and/or hot sauce, to the point this comment feels genuinely “off”. At least IME “al gusto” type takes on food are the overwhelming vibe, quite far from the ancient buffalo milk dairies producing PGI cheese or whatever. It might honestly be difficult to stick to pure chile x vinegar x salt hot sauces in eg the Caribbean as well, everyone and their mother tends to add something special!
- ncmncm 4y ago
  You can add anything you like, after. Getting it out is impossible.
  - finiteseries 4y ago
    Fermentation and the texture of laurel leaves sadly prevents that, but it does create the exciting opportunity to simply buy/make different sauces for different flavors and moods!
witheld 4y ago
So you only like generic hot sauce like Tobasco and Buffalo sauce, very interesting.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  Tabasco lists vinegar first. When I buy pepper sauce, I am buying it for the pepper. So, I want it to be the first ingredient. That is actually remarkably rare. Apparently vinegar is cheaper. Never seen Buffalo.