During my weekly runs to the Hong Kong Market on Behrman Highway on the West Bank, I’ve been on the hunt for a specific brand of hot sauce: Huy Fong Sriracha. The red chili hot sauce, with its green colored cap, usually can be found in practically every Asian grocer and restaurant across the U.S… and quite possibly across the world.
But for a second consecutive year, certain conditions including a drought affecting chili pepper production in Mexico and the U.S.’s Southwest region, have prevented California based Huy Fong Foods from producing what has become one of the most popular hot sauces in America.
According to analysis of the $1.5 billion hot sauce industry in the U.S., sales of Huy Fong’s Sriracha is behind only Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and the king of hot sauce sales, Louisiana based Tabasco. But even the king has taken notice of Sriracha’s rise in popularity and its current absence.
Mcilhenny Company, which owns and produces Tabasco, makes and sells its own version of Sriracha.
“I remember when I was working with Tabasco and they gave me a sample of their Sriracha and it’s actually pretty decent,” Peter Nguyen said.
Nguyen is the founder, owner, CEO and chef of Banh Mi Boys.
Nguyen opened his first Vietnamese-New Orleans inspired sandwich (banh mi) restaurant at a gas station on Airline Highway in Metairie in 2016. Banh Mi Boys is now a franchise with locations in uptown New Orleans, South Carolina and another to open in the fall in Texas. Growing up the son of first-generation Vietnamese immigrants, Nguyen was introduced to Sriracha before he could remember. Naturally, when Nguyen established and grew the Banh Mi Boys brand, the thick, red hot sauce contained in those green topped bottles were part of the business’ foundation and ingredients.
“We have our pho wings; we use it to dress are pho wings.
It’s in our sauces like honey Sriracha sauce. We use it a lot in our sauces, as part of the ingredients. We go through a lot of Sriracha,” said Nguyen.
With the ongoing shortage of Huy Fong’s Sriracha, some fanatics of the hot sauce have gone to extremes to get their Sriracha fix. The internet is full of funny anecdotes of Sriracha searches, with some people claiming to have paid more than $100 for a bottle of Sriracha. It usually sells for close to $4/bottle. What is it about this brand of Sriracha? Why and how did it get to this point of popularity? Listen to the podcast episode with Peter Nguyen here.
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