A shortage of the most popular brand of sriracha sauce, Huy Fong, is leading retailers and distributors to look for suitable substitutes for the condiment.
“We bought in on numerous competitive brands,” said Jim Beckett, specialty foods manager at Jungle Jim’s International Market, citing sriracha products from Roland, Ox, Lee Kum Kee and others.
He said Fairfield, Ohio-based Jungle Jim’s, which operates two stores specializing in a wide assortment of international products, was able to stock up on Huy Fong Sriracha before the popular condiment became scarce this summer, however.
“We were lucky because our vendors alerted us to this potential shortage before it hit,” said Beckett, although he noted that the retailer’s stockpile has since been depleted.
In an effort to make its supplies last, Jungle Jim’s has been limiting purchases to two, 28-ounce bottles per customer, he said, and has completely eliminated case purchases.
Beckett said Jungle Jim’s also stocked up on products that include sriracha as an ingredient, such as candy bars, jerky, popcorn, salt, drink rim salt, bloody Mary mix, and others.
“These have sold very well,” he said, citing media publicity around the shortage.
Huy Fong Foods, based in Irwindale, California, said in a statement to SFA News Daily that “limited production” of its sriracha has recently resumed.
“Unfortunately, we are still experiencing a shortage of raw material,” the company said, adding that production of its Chili Garlic and Sambal Olek sauces remains shut down “until we can receive enough raw materials to resume production for those items.”
Reports said the company was unable to obtain enough red jalapenos, but Huy Fong did not confirm that was the case.
“At this time, we have no estimations of when supply will increase,” the company said. “Because we do not sell directly to retail/market levels, we cannot determine when the product will hit shelves again and/or who currently has the product in stock.”
Huy Fong also thanked customers for their patience and said it was “working on trying to avoid future shortages.”
Huy Fong Sriracha has built a large following during the last several years among fans who enjoyed its unique blend of subtle heat, sweetness, and vinegary tang. Its clear bottles with bright green caps have become closely identified with the sauce, which often is one of the few, if not the only, sriracha brand available on retail shelves.
Suzy Kang, category manager, grocery, at Baldor Specialty Foods, said Huy Fong Sriracha was among its most popular condiments, sought after by consumers, restaurants, and retailers alike.
“The demand for sriracha sauce is so high, and our customers just need it,” said Kang.
She said Baldor only carried one other brand of sriracha sauce before the shortage, but has since added two others to give its customers other options. These other brands could end up capturing some market share from Huy Fong in the long term, she said.
“I wonder what will happen when the Huy Fong brand does come back,” said Kang. “Will people stick with the new brand they tried, or will they go back to Huy Fong?”
Other sriracha brands listed on the Baldor website include products from Shark, Pride O’ Thai, and Kitchen Garden Farm.
“Because of the shortage, we saw other suppliers quickly coming out with their version of sriracha,” said Kang.
Some other brands have come close to matching certain aspects of the Huy Fong taste profile, but none are a true, one-for-one replacement, she said.
Amid the limited supply, some distributors have been offering Huy Fong Sriracha “at a crazy markup,” Kang said, and some reports cited prices as high as $30-$40 per bottle.
It might take some time for availability to return to previous levels, she said, as distributors clamor for the product by the pallet load.
“Everyone has this pent-up demand for that particular brand of sriracha,” she said.
Among the brands that have sought to grab market share amid the Huy Fong Sriracha shortage is Tabasco, maker of the ubiquitous Mexican hot sauce. The brand, owned by McIlhenny Co., created a special “sriracha shortage” website complete with a search function that allows consumers to find locations where they can buy Tabasco Brand Sriracha, and encourages consumers to follow @Tabasco on social media “for no shortage of flavor inspiration.”
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