You know the bottle. The bright green cap, the defiant rooster on the label, and that specific shade of red that suggests spice without total destruction. For decades, Huy Fong Foods Sriracha wasn't just a condiment; it was a cultural phenomenon. It sat on every hipster brunch table and in the back of every college student's fridge. People didn't just use it. They obsessed over it. Then, suddenly, it was gone.
Empty shelves. Ten-dollar bottles on eBay. Desperation.
What looked like a simple supply chain hiccup was actually a messy, decade-long divorce between David Tran, the founder of Huy Fong Foods, and his long-time chili supplier, Underwood Ranches. It’s a story of loyalty, bad contracts, and the brutal reality of agricultural dependence. If you’ve noticed the sauce tastes different lately—or if you've struggled to find it at all—you aren't imagining things. Everything changed when the peppers stopped coming from Ventura County.
The Handshake That Built an Empire
David Tran arrived in the United States as a refugee from Vietnam in 1979. He started making sauce in buckets. He named his company after the freighter that brought him to America, the Huey Fong. For nearly 30 years, his business model was built on a single, solid relationship with Craig Underwood of Underwood Ranches.
It was basically a handshake deal.
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Underwood grew the jalapeños; Tran turned them into "rooster sauce." As Huy Fong grew into a $150 million-a-year powerhouse, Underwood expanded his farm to over 1,700 acres just to keep up with the demand for Huy Fong Foods Sriracha. They were inseparable. But in 2016, the relationship imploded. Huy Fong reportedly overpaid Underwood for farming costs, a dispute arose, and by 2017, the partnership was dead.
A California jury eventually ordered Huy Fong to pay Underwood Ranches $23.3 million in damages. That was the beginning of the end for the Sriracha we all knew.
Why the New Bottles Don't Hit the Same
When Tran lost Underwood, he lost the specific hybrid of red jalapeño that gave the sauce its signature kick and consistency. He had to look elsewhere—Mexico, mostly. But farming isn't like manufacturing widgets. You can't just flip a switch and get the same crop in a different climate with different soil and different water rights.
Mexico has been hit by severe, multi-year droughts. The Colorado River is struggling. The peppers coming out of these regions are often smaller, less vibrant, or simply non-existent during peak harvest windows. This is why Huy Fong Foods Sriracha has faced multiple production halts since 2020.
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Honestly, the color variation is the most telling sign. Have you noticed some bottles look a bit more brownish-orange than bright red? That’s what happens when you’re forced to source from multiple different growers across different microclimates. The spice levels have become inconsistent too. Some batches are fire; others are surprisingly mellow. It's the price of losing a dedicated, local supply chain that was fine-tuned over three decades.
The Rise of the "Sriracha Alternatives"
While Huy Fong was struggling with lawsuits and droughts, the rest of the world didn't just stop eating spicy food. The "Great Sriracha Shortage" created a massive vacuum.
- Underwood Ranches started making their own sauce. Since they had the original peppers, many purists argue their "Dragon Sriracha" is actually the true successor to the original flavor.
- Tabasco pivoted hard. They launched their own Sriracha which, surprisingly to some, is quite good and much more vinegar-forward.
- Kitchen Garden Farm and other organic producers stepped up with small-batch versions that use fermented peppers, though at a much higher price point.
The competition is fierce now. In the early 2000s, Huy Fong had zero marketing budget because the product sold itself. Today, they are fighting for shelf space they used to own by default.
Is the Shortage Actually Over?
Sorta. As of late 2025 and heading into 2026, you can find the rooster sauce again, but it’s not the ubiquitous staple it once was. Huy Fong is still dealing with "limited supply" warnings. They are extremely vulnerable to weather patterns in Mexico. If the rain doesn't fall in the right parts of Chihuahua or Sinaloa, the grinders in Irwindale stay silent.
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It’s a masterclass in business risk. Tran famously refused to sell his company or take on outside investors, wanting to keep the price low for the consumer. It’s an admirable goal. But by putting all his peppers in one basket—and then losing that basket—he created a vulnerability that might never fully heal.
How to Source and Store Your Spicy Fix
If you're a die-hard fan of Huy Fong Foods Sriracha, you need to be smarter about how you buy. The days of assuming it will always be $4 at the grocery store are likely over for a while.
Check the manufacturing dates if you can. Look for the bright red hue; avoid the duller, brownish bottles as they’ve likely been exposed to heat or are made from inferior late-season crops. Because the sauce is a fermented product, it's shelf-stable, but it will oxidize. If you find a good batch, keep it in the fridge. It preserves that bright chili flavor much longer than the pantry does.
Don't be afraid to branch out, either. The market is flooded with high-quality fermented chili pastes right now. Brands like Sky Valley or even the various Gochujang-based sauces offer a complexity that Huy Fong sometimes lacks.
Your Sriracha Strategy Moving Forward
Stop treating Sriracha like a commodity and start treating it like a seasonal agricultural product. Because that's what it is.
- Check the color. If the bottle in the store looks "off," skip it. It won't taste like you remember.
- Support the farmers. If you want the original pepper profile, try the Underwood Ranches version. It's the closest you'll get to the pre-2016 flavor.
- Stock up moderately. Don't hoard—that makes the price spike—but having two bottles in the back of the pantry isn't a bad idea given the climate instability in pepper-growing regions.
- Watch the weather. If you hear about major droughts in Northern Mexico, expect a Sriracha price hike about six months later.
The era of "easy Sriracha" is gone, replaced by a more complex, volatile market. David Tran's rooster is still standing, but he's definitely lost a few feathers in the scuffle.