Sriracha hot sauce shortage inflames summer demand

Drought conditions in western US affecting production of popular hot sauce

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  Bottles of Huy Fong Foods Sriracha sauce are displayed on a supermarket shelf in Larkspur, California. Getty Images / AFP

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  Huy Fong Foods announced that it will temporarily suspend production and will be unable to fill orders placed after mid-April. Getty Images / AFP

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  A beef display case is nearly empty at a Giant Food grocery store in Washington. Reuters

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  Grocery stores still have empty shelves amid supply chain disruptions, coronavirus, weather delays and war. AFP

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  A customer walks past empty shelves at Heinen's Fine Foods store in Pepper Pike, Ohio. AP

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  A woman takes a jug of milk off of depleted refrigerated shelves at a Giant Food store in Springfield, Virginia. Getty Images / AFP

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  A man browses largely empty shelves at a Pet Club in Emeryville, California. AP

Bottles of the popular Sriracha hot sauce could be hard to find on store shelves this summer.

Southern California-based Huy Fong told customers in an email this year that it would suspend sales of its famous spicy sauce over the summer due to a shortage of chili peppers.

“Currently, due to weather conditions affecting the quality of chili peppers, we now face a more severe shortage of chili,” the letter read.

A store shelf sits empty where bottles of Huy Fong Foods Sriracha sauce are usually displayed in San Anselmo, California. Getty Images / AFP

The company said in its April 19 email that all orders submitted after that date would be fulfilled after Labour Day.

“Unfortunately, this is out of our control and without this essential ingredient we are unable to produce any of our products,” the company said.

The company sources its peppers from various farms in California, New Mexico and Mexico, and said that weather conditions are affecting the quality of the peppers, deepening the shortage.

Hot temperatures and a historic drought across the western US have been taking a heavy toll on California’s agriculture.

The US Drought Monitor reported that the whole state was in “severe drought” as of last week, with the Central Valley facing “extreme drought” conditions.

Reactionary chili-heads did not take the news lightly on social media, with some lamenting the “worst news of the year” and the “end of days". Others said they were planning to bulk-buy the sauce and horde it in case shelves went empty.

Extreme weather, pandemic supply-chain snarls and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have all taken their toll on food production this year.

Sriracha is only the latest on a growing list of food items in short supply around the world, which includes chicken, popcorn, salami and crisps.

News agencies contributed to this report