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.
To be completely certain you would have to ask them.
Just going by the information we both have by looking at the bottles,
The “Premium Dragon” contains
The “Regular, I Guess” contains
The Premium Dragon contains a higher percentage of Sugar and Water compared to the Regular. Premium Dragon also contains Natural Flavor while Regular does not and Premium Dragon contains Acetic Acid as opposed to Regular’s use of vinegar (which is at least 4% acetic acid by volume).
We can also see that the Premium Dragon comes in an opaque bottle (mirroring a tactic I hate) and if you look closely is on a slightly offwhite [f5f5f5] background as opposed to Regular’s just [ffffff]-uckin’ white background. Both of these are techniques I believe are intended to make your brain think of the product as more premium or substantial, as unbleached paper is used when a store brand wishes to sell itself as “homestyle” “hand crafted” “organic” “select”, et. cet.
Further, Premium Dragon’s label uses an offshoot of Chop Suey font. Since Craig Underwood does not appear to be Asian, I have my doubts its use is intracommunal or in any way ironic, therefore I would state another difference is Premium Dragon comes in a more racist bottle.
Also you will note that while both bottles say, “Distributed by Underwood Ranches Camarillo, Ca 93012”, every other bottle on the page says “Product of USA” while Premium Dragon conspicuously does not.
There is a chance Underwood Ranches does not even make the Premium Dragon version.
If I had to guess I’d say Premium Dragon attempts to be closer to the taste profile of their former client’s sauce than the sauce they make to their own tastes but I base that on instinct, not any information.
Over all, ingredient wise, Premium Dragon seems much more …clinical? Industrial? Made by a chemist as opposed to a Chef.
Less “natural” if that’s the sort of thing that bothers you (and there’s no reason it should).
I imagine it is also sweeter but I have never tasted either one.
Such an amazingly thorough and impressive analysis! You are a credit to humanity and should definitely do something nice for yourself soon with that in mind.