Another Sriracha shortage may be coming

Jennifer Wunderlich can’t recall the last time Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha sauce was in stock at her workplace, a New York-based specialty confections and gourmet food distributor.

It’s been “months and months” since Wunderlich said she’s seen the rooster-adorned, green-capped bottles at Nassau Candy, where she works as a customer support and sales specialist. Other distributors said their inventory of the red, garlicky sauce, which has cultivated an ardent popularity, is also depleted — and they worry it won’t be returning any time soon.

Last week, Huy Fong Foods said in a letter to its wholesale buyers that it will be halting Sriracha production until after Labor Day. The reason, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Washington Post: Its crop of red jalapeño peppers are just not the right shade to produce the beloved sauce known for its citrusy-sweet heat.

“After reevaluating our supply of chili, we have determined that it is too green to proceed with production as it is affecting the color of the product,” the company wrote in a letter, which was first reported by USA Today. “… Unfortunately, all orders that have been scheduled beginning on May 6, 2024, will be canceled and the status changed to pending.”

A representative for Huy Fong Foods declined to comment on the letter.

The letter Huy Fong Foods sent to distributors said the California-based company hoped to resume production “when our next chili season starts” later this year.

For now, Nassau Candy is stocking up on other sriracha brands to sell to its customers, leading to some of Huy Fong Foods’ competitors “doing really well,” Wunderlich said. But experts told The Post that sriracha fans could face a persistent shortage driven by the severe dry spell in Mexico, a major pepper exporter and the source of Huy Fong Foods and other companies’ chiles.

This is not the first Sriracha shortage for Huy Fong Foods aficionados. The company has halted production at least three times since 2020 — unleashing a panic marked by some saucy fans pilfering bottles, restaurants rationing their supplies and third-party sellers punching up prices.