article- The prolonged shortage of a certain red sauce is making the black market go wild.
Prices of Sriracha sauce are as high as $70 on eBay as people look to snap up the spicy sauce — and they’re even steeper on Amazon, up to $124. Huy Fong Foods, which makes the rooster-adorned bottled sauce, has been dealing with a years-long shortage of the chilis, which is hurting production and causing some shortages.
A search on eBay shows prices for various sized bottles ranging from $39.98 for 17-ounce bottles to a 28-ounce bottle for nearly $70. In both instances, shipping is an additional fee, jacking up the price even more.
Prices are even higher on Amazon, where one seller is offering a 2-pack for $124. Of course, it’s unclear if anyone is actually paying these exorbitant prices, considering a 17-ounce bottle typically costs around $5.
The company recently told CNN that it’s still experiencing a shortage of raw materials. “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.
“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 company added.
There’s been a shortage for the past three years, as Huy Fong has said that its chili peppers have consistently been in short supply. Last year, it temporarily stopped orders because of the shortage, which also affected its Chili Garlic and Sambal Oelek products.
Huy Fong’s Sriracha, created in 1980 by Chinese immigrant David Tran, has made its way to the shelves of huge retailers like Target and Whole Foods and has been a fan favorite of consumers since its inception.
Those prices are bonkers. But—as someone who bought a knock-off brand of sriracha the other day—it doesn’t totally surprise me. The knock-off stuff is terrible.
My local grocery store carries an alternative, Lee Kum Kee brand, that I've found to be adequate. There's some stuff that I eat regularly that sriracha flavor profile works better than anything else, so I'll take what I can get for now. Not having tried the Lee Kum Kee brand before the shortage, I'm eager to actually do a side by side once I can get a bottle of Huy Fong.
I don't know anything about their siracha but their oyster sauce is on point. Make sure you get the one with the kid in the raft on the label.
Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce
Got some Badia version... disgusting.
Mine was T&T brand but yeah, awful.
We got a Tobasco brand Sriracha and weren't disappointed at all.
I was curious about the Tabasco one. I saw it last week, but wasn't sure about it so I passed it up. I'll have to grab a bottle when I head back to the store
Yeah, it has a different "kick" to it. It didn't take me long at all to warm up to it.