Sriracha Selling for Hundreds Amid Latest Shortage

By Adam Barnhardt

If you've been hoarding bottles of sriracha, you might be sitting on a sizable investment. With the hot sauce still suffering global shortages, bottles of the fiery concoctions are fetching hefty sums online, with some retailers marking the sauce up to $120. A listing from Huy Fong Foods, the maker of the sauce, on Amazon is selling for hundreds while more affordable options are available on eBay. As of this writing, some listings are as low as $30 per bottle while others are upwards of $60 and beyond for multiple bottles.

The sriracha shortage first came to light last year after Huy Fong released a letter to retailers revealing they should expect shortened or cancelled orders because ingredients needed for the sauce weren't readily available. "Currently, due to weather conditions affecting the quality of chili peppers, we now face a more severe shortage of chili," the letter read. Without chili peppers, the company cannot make sriracha or its other flagship sauces Chili Garlic and Sambal Oelek.

The letter added, "We understand that this may cause issues. However, during this time we will not accept any new orders to be placed before September as we will not have enough inventory to fulfill your order."

The company has confirmed that production has restarted on the sauce, though the supply chain still hasn't caught up to pre-pandemic levels.

"Although some production did resume this past fall season, we continue to have a limited supply that continues to affect our production. At this time, we have no estimations of when supply will increase," a Huy Fong spokesperson said in a statement obtained by CNN.

"We are grateful for your continued patience and understanding during this unprecedented inventory shortage. We are currently working on trying to avoid future shortages," the statement added.

Suffice it to say, if you come across some bottles of Huy Fong's sriracha sauce at your local store at regular retail prices, you might want to snag a bottle or two.

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