Fans of sriracha sauce may find themselves scrambling — again — to get a hold of the spicy condiment.
Huy Fong Foods, a leading sriracha maker in California, is warning that a shortage is on the horizon, and it’s placing the blame on jalapeño chili peppers.
The company told wholesale buyers in a letter this week that it has to halt production because the peppers aren’t red enough.
This marks the third year in a row that the leading sriracha maker said supply disruptions are hampering production.
NATIONAL SRIRACHA SAUCE SHORTAGE MAY LEAD TO SPICELESS SUMMER FOR SOME
Huy Fong Foods declined to comment.
“After reevaluating our supply of chili, we have determined that it is too green to proceed with production as it is affecting the color of the product,” the letter obtained by USA Today read.
Huy Fong Foods told wholesalers that it would “halt production until after Labor Day, when our next chili season starts.”
HOW SRIRACHA HOT SAUCE GOT ITS START
As recently as June 2023, the company said it had been struggling to keep up with demand while droughts in Mexico kill off essential pepper crops.
The company doesn’t sell directly to consumers.
That shortage of the hot sauce resulted in significant price gouging by third-party sellers on e-commerce platforms such as eBay and Amazon.
At the time, some sponsored sellers on eBay who agreed to pay the auction website a percentage of their sale price for higher placement in search results sold single 9-ounce bottles for $26.98, 17-ounce two packs for $54.49 and 28-ounce two packs for $71.99.
To compare, a 17-ounce bottle of the sauce is being sold on Target’s website for roughly $5 as of Thursday.
