Have you been fruitlessly perusing the sauce aisles looking for the red coloured, green capped, gorgeous little bottles of sriracha hot sauce? Well, it turns out there’s kind of a global sriracha shortage ATM. And climate change might be to blame.
Huy Fong foods is the company behind the famous green-capped sriracha hot sauce. In June, folks sussed out a letter from the company to its manufacturers dated April 2022.
In it the company explained that since July 2020 there’s been chilli shortage. And at the moment there’s a “severe shortage of chilli” thanks to weather conditions. Sacre bleu!
The company confirmed the letter — and the sriracha shortage — were legit in a statement to Food & Wine magazine.
“Unfortunately, we can confirm that there is an unprecedented shortage of our products,” a spokesperson said.
It also said it hoped the autumn season would bring a solid batch of chillis. So fingers crossed we’ll have plentiful sriracha harvest in September.
Since the letter reveal, there’s been much international discussion about the sriracha shortage. I fully agree that a shortage of delicious spicy sauce is well worth international attention.
my mom, who has been a fan of sriracha as long as I have been alive, is not ok https://t.co/PaoZSNU2fr pic.twitter.com/CI7olF0ndP
— Gwendolyn Wu (@gwendolynawu) June 15, 2022
there’s a sriracha shortage and i can not find a bottle anywhere – like there isn’t even a place for it on the shelves. heartbroken and willing to pay $30 for a bottle at this point.
— ell (@ellbellv) June 13, 2022
Hitting up all the local stores, just in case the sriracha shortage is real. pic.twitter.com/RxJQVJzD6V
— Adrianna (@adriannaisms) June 15, 2022
sriracha shortage panic spotted in brooklyn pic.twitter.com/12PRMEPJa6
— Ruth Weissmann (@_ruthbetold) June 16, 2022
NPR in the US explained why exactly the sriracha shortage might be happening. The chilli peppers used in sriracha are harvested in Northern Mexico.
According to climate and ecosystem expert Guillero Murray Tortarolo from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the region had a fucked harvest this year.
Part of the problem? An unusual drought in Mexico.
Murray Tortarolo explained that the specific chilli peppers need constant irrigation — aka fucking loads of water — but the Mexico is two years into a drought. That’s been made worse by two consecutive La Niñas.
Yes, that’s right. The bitch is back and wreaking havoc around the world apparently.
“The already difficult conditions were pushed over the limit by two consecutive La Niña events. And the dry season has not only been intense, but also remarkably long,” he told NPR.
While it can’t be confirmed this is all being caused by climate change, Murray Tortarolo reckons it’s likely to be a factor.
And we’re feeling the burn — or maybe missing the burn — in Australia too.
Alan Trinh, who directs Thai Kee IGA in central Sydney told The Guardian all of Huy Fong’s products had increased in price by “roughly 10 to 15 per cent”.
I just can’t believe the absolutely borked cost of living now includes sriracha too. Please, can we not enjoy our spicy treats in peace?
Another supermarket exec, Miky Wang from Tong Li supermarkets, told the publication the price of sriracha had “risen a lot”.
“We do have some difficulty in getting the stock,” she said.
It’s even affecting the big supermarkets like Coles.
Luckily, there are loads of good sriracha alternatives out there. Melbourne chef John Chinsami told the ABC one of the key things to focus on was ingredients.
Obviously chilli is the big one, but he also shouted out sauces with high concentrations of sugar, salt, garlic and onion. Literally the five best flavours.
If you’re looking for a similar texture to the OG Huy Fong sriracha? A sauce with 20 to 30 per cent water is the way to go according to Chinsami.
And if you’re playing along at home, it’s time to cross “hot sauce shortage” off your cursed 2022 bingo cards.
