(“Marnie Shure”sounds like a pseudonym)

A Sriracha Shortage Is Coming Amid Pepper Supply Issues
Food & Wine | May 9, 2024 | Marnie Shure

The rooster bottle won’t get shipped anywhere until at least September.

Marnie Shure is a writer and editor with over a decade of experience.

Oh — OK. I guess not. No need to get all defensive about it.

For the past six years, she has been primarily focused on food publications, covering restaurant reviews, recipes, breaking news, fast food and grocery taste tests, industry trends, and more. She previously helmed The Takeout, a Midwest-based food website.

Take that, Oppo!

Over the past few years, fans of Huy Fong Sriracha, the hot and garlicky chili pepper sauce in the iconic rooster bottle with the green cap, have experienced a roller coaster of emotions and heartbreak typically reserved for sports fans and soap opera viewers.

Wait… I was reading about sauce, and now suddenly I’m watching soap operas?

The Washington Post reports that after years of wavering availability and recipe changes, Huy Fong is facing severe weather that threatens its pepper supply — conditions that could lead to yet another sriracha shortage.

Bottles of Sriracha Are Selling for Over $30 as the Shortage Enters Its Second Year

You’re yanking my chain, aren’t you? I’m just sitting here with my chips, watching soap operas.

Huy Fong recently canceled all forthcoming shipments to wholesalers and notified them that sriracha production is on pause until after Labor Day — nearly four months from now. There is currently a severe drought in Mexico, where Huy Fong’s red winter jalapeño peppers are grown, and the high temperatures and dry conditions can cause the plants to stop ripening altogether, never achieving their prized red color. According to a letter obtained by the Post, the company says the peppers haven’t achieved the ideal shade (they’re still too green), and it would affect the hue of the finished product. As such, Huy Fong will wait until the next growing season later in 2024.

Noes! Can’t UCLA protestors issue demands?

To the casual observer, this shortage might not seem like the biggest deal. After all, there are dozens of varieties of sriracha available in most supermarkets and specialty shops whose supply doesn’t appear to be threatened as Huy Fong’s is. Yet the prevalence of Huy Fong is arguably the reason that any other brands have proliferated in the United States at all. The product debuted in 1980 at a time when America’s global cuisine was more siloed, and it took decades for Huy Fong to make the leap from Asian supermarkets to the American mainstream.

OK. I’m a casual observer. Next crisis?