article- The prolonged shortage of a certain red sauce is making the black market go wild.
Prices of Sriracha sauce are as high as $70 on eBay as people look to snap up the spicy sauce — and they’re even steeper on Amazon, up to $124. Huy Fong Foods, which makes the rooster-adorned bottled sauce, has been dealing with a years-long shortage of the chilis, which is hurting production and causing some shortages.
A search on eBay shows prices for various sized bottles ranging from $39.98 for 17-ounce bottles to a 28-ounce bottle for nearly $70. In both instances, shipping is an additional fee, jacking up the price even more.
Prices are even higher on Amazon, where one seller is offering a 2-pack for $124. Of course, it’s unclear if anyone is actually paying these exorbitant prices, considering a 17-ounce bottle typically costs around $5.
The company recently told CNN that it’s still experiencing a shortage of raw materials. “Although some production did resume this past fall season, we continue to have a limited supply that continues to affect our production. At this time, we have no estimations of when supply will increase,” a Huy Fong spokesperson said.
“We are grateful for your continued patience and understanding during this unprecedented inventory shortage. We are currently working on trying to avoid future shortages,” the company added.
There’s been a shortage for the past three years, as Huy Fong has said that its chili peppers have consistently been in short supply. Last year, it temporarily stopped orders because of the shortage, which also affected its Chili Garlic and Sambal Oelek products.
Huy Fong’s Sriracha, created in 1980 by Chinese immigrant David Tran, has made its way to the shelves of huge retailers like Target and Whole Foods and has been a fan favorite of consumers since its inception.
“sriracha” sauce is pretty easy to make. It’s a garlic & pepper sauce w/vinegar, salt, and sugar. Fermented if you prefer but not necessary.
I bought a random brand the other day and only looked at the ingredients after getting home. Not a single sriracha pepper, just regular jalapeños and red dye. Felt kinda ripped off honestly. Not quite the same as Huy Fong but it’s still tasty on eggs.
My understanding was that the traditional chilis used were Thai or birds-eye chilis, and ripe red jalapenos were used by immigrants to North America when thai chilis weren’t available. The “sriracha pepper” is a modern invention to capitalize on the popularity of the sauce, rather than the source of it - and it is still just a close relative of the jalapeno.
I also got ripped off by a knock-off recently. I assumed it was the same, but it’s a pale imitation.
I got the Kroger brand sriracha and I like it just fine. It wasn’t anywhere near $70, just Kroger-level overpriced.
There seems to be a specific taste to sriracha though. We picked up a rando bottle at Whole Foods recently and it was nowhere near as good as the usual sriracha. Tasted like a different kind of sauce.
They changed pepper distributors a couple years back, so the taste did change.