- Huy Fong Foods, the creator of Sriracha chili sauce, announced a shortage in 2022.
- Weather conditions and a lawsuit between Huy Fong and its main supplier may have caused a shortage.
- Now, a bottle of Sriracha can cost up to $23 on Amazon.
An ongoing Sriracha shortage is leading some third-party vendors to sling the hot chili sauce for up to $23 a bottle on Amazon.
In 2022, the Irwindale, California, company that created the sauce, Huy Fong Foods, notified customers that a “severe” chili pepper shortage was disrupting its production line.
“Currently, due to weather conditions affecting the quality of chili peppers, we now face a more severe shortage of chili,” the company wrote in a letter dated April 19, 2022. “Unfortunately, this is out of our control and without this essential ingredient we are unable to produce any of our products.”
Since then, grocery stores and restaurants have been having difficulty keeping a reserve of the beloved hot chili sauce, causing third-party sellers to mark up prices.
At Walmart, a 9 oz bottle of Sriracha is being sold for $26.50
On Amazon, one vendor is selling a 28 oz bottle for $23, with only 12 left in stock as of Sunday. Another vendor is selling a three-pack for $54.
Huy Fong has repeatedly pointed to the climate crisis as the main factor behind the shortage.
In a 2022 statement to Insider, Huy Fong said there were issues “caused by several spiraling events, including unexpected crop failure from the spring chili harvest.”
However, the April 2022 notice does not refer to a legal dispute that began in 2017 when Huy Fong Foods sued its leading supplier of pepper, Underwood Ranches.
Court documents show that Huy Fong believed it overpaid about $1.4 million for peppers from Underwood Ranches in the 2016 season.
Underwood Ranches owner Craig Underwood filed a cross-complaint shortly after in 2018, claiming that Huy Fong breached its contract and committed fraud. Underwood won the civil lawsuit and was awarded $23.3 million.
Huy Fong Foods filed an appeal in 2021.
A spokesperson for Huy Fong Foods did not respond to a request for comment sent during the weekend.
Huy Fong Food may not have created the first version of the sauce — it’s believed to have been invented by a Thai woman named Thanom Chakkapak — but its popularity inspired copycats.
Trader Joe’s has its own version; another company, Bushwick Kitchen, released a gochujang version; and, according to its website, Underwood Ranches has also started selling its own Sriracha.
Underwood Ranches did not respond to a request for comment sent during the weekend.
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