The Great Sriracha Shortage Is Over For Now

The Sriracha shortage that had gripped the nation earlier this year has shown signs of easing.

The shortage was first reported in April 2022 when Huy Fong Foods Inc. announced that weather conditions had affected the production of chili peppers that were the main ingredients of Sriracha. The revelation pushed the price of the bottles for many times their retail price on auction sites like eBay.

But after months of Sriracha belt-tightening, the sauce is back on the shelves. The Irwindale-based Huy Fong told LAist that it has indeed resumed production of the sauce "about two to three months ago."

How one restaurant dealt with the shortage

The sauce has become a staple condiment in the United States where it's paired with everything from salads, sandwiches, to chicken nuggets and more.

But at phở places, it’s a veritable staple, on par with bean sprouts and fresh basil. You can expect to see the green-capped bottle sitting next to a bottle of hoisin sauce.

“It's kind of a part of the dining experience where when every guest comes, they expect you to have hoisin and Sriracha, because it's a whole package,” said Hanli Su, owner of Pho Ever in Alhambra.

She says when the shortage of Sriracha occurred, there was an “uproar” from their customers.

“They’ll ask us always, every time it would be like, ‘Oh there isn’t Sriracha on the table. Do you have Sriracha?’” Su said.

Su says during the shortage customers were left with a sense of longing for the sauce.

“It was just their experience was kind of incomplete, almost. So of course, they're here for the main thing, which is phở, but then there's always that like, 10% missing, which is like the Sriracha.”

The supply chain unclogged

Su says it was only this month when she started to see a drop in the wholesale prices for the sauce, which allowed her to stock up again. She’s stoked the sauce is back, but says she notices a difference.

“We actually did like a taste test because we did have an old box of Sriracha from before the shortage that we never wanted to kind of give away,” Su said. “We noticed that the color of the old Sriracha was a little more vibrant …The new Sriracha is a little more kind of acidic, in a sense, like a little more sour.”

Su says she had to readjust her recipes because the sauce no longer tasted the same, and multiple dishes used the sauce in it.

None of her customers has brought the issue up to her, she says. But on a Reddit thread, some users are having the same hunch.

We took the question to Huy Fong Food Inc., but the company has yet to respond.

When Huy Fong Food Inc.'s Sriracha went off the shelf, it left behind a consumer base desperate for the garlicky, spicy sauce or any semblance of it.

Many customers sought out substitutes, trying out similar versions of the sauce from Trader Joes, Underwood Farms, Lee Kum Kee and more.

Su also sought out an alternative by importing boxes of Cholimex, the sauce most commonly used in Vietnam to pair with phở, which she says she prefers over Sriracha now.

“When we did switch back to Sriracha, there was I would say 30% of our customers who are like, ‘Oh, do you still have the old sauce because it tastes better,’” Su said. “Sriracha is like a big name brand, and everyone's used to it, and everyone wanted it. But when they had no choice, but to try the substitute, they ended up liking it a little bit more.”