The classic sriracha sauce in a green-capped bottle is on the verge of another shortage, as its manufacturer, Huy Fong, recently canceled all shipments to wholesalers and alerted them that production is on hold until after Labor Day.
The pause is caused by a severe drought in Mexico, which is where the company grows the red winter jalapeno peppers used in the sauce. The higher temperatures and dry conditions stop the peppers from ripening, so they don’t develop their red hue—which would affect the color of the traditionally red condiment. The company also experienced a shortage in 2020 due to pandemic-related supply chain issues and drought, as well as in 2022.
Other sriracha options will be available on store shelves, but it was Huy Fong’s sauce, which debuted in 1980, that made inroads into America and grew sriracha’s popularity. The peppers were once also grown in California, but the business that grew them now produce their own sriracha.
“It’s a double-edged sword when the success of this particular sauce comes from a jalapeño that can only be produced in California or Mexico,” climate scientist Guillermo Murray-Tortarolo told The Washington Post.
