Sriracha Shortage Blamed on the Weather Changes

After the creator of the famous condiment announced that sales would be suspended throughout the summer owing to a lack of chili peppers, hot sauce fans felt furious.

(Photo : Image by Paul Narvaez in Wikimedia Common )

The famed Sriracha spicy sauce is in short supply due to the weather. Due to a poor spring chili pepper crop, one of the world's largest hot sauce producers has decided to halt manufacturing of its trademark spicy sauces for the summer.

Halt Sales

The producer of one of America's most famous condiments has been forced to put its trademark hot sauces on hold until at least Labor Day. The cause is a deteriorating drought and increasing heat.

Huy Fong Foods, the manufacturer of the iconic Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, acknowledged the scarcity in a statement to AccuWeather.

"We are still working to remedy this issue," the business added, "which has been caused by multiple cascading occurrences, including unanticipated crop failure from the spring chili harvest."

In a letter to consumers written in mid-April, the firm stated that it is experiencing a significant scarcity of chili and that manufacturing some of its famous sauces will be limited until after Labor Day.

"We now face a more severe scarcity of chili owing to weather circumstances hurting the quality of chili peppers," the firm noted. "Unfortunately, this is beyond our control, and we cannot create any of our products (Chili Garlic, Sambal Oelek, and Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce) without this crucial component."

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Importing Chili Peppers

(Photo : Image by Vyacheslav Argenberg from Wikimedia Common )

The California-based firm gets its chili peppers from farms in California, New Mexico, and Mexico, all suffering from rising temperatures and catastrophic drought.

Catastrophic Drought

Drought has been ravaging portions of the Southwest for more than two years, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bill Deger. While the worst drought conditions have passed, most of the Southwest is still suffering abnormally dry conditions.

"The worst drought was found over the Central Valley of California and in central and eastern New Mexico, where the drought is designated as 'exceptional,'" according to Deger. "Without those locations, much of California and New Mexico is experiencing extreme drought."

According to Deger, the drought in most Southwest is predicted to stay the same or worsen in the coming weeks.

Mexican Drought

(Photo : Image by Виктор Пинчук from Wikimedia Commons)

"Over the following several months, the return of monsoon precipitation in portions of the Southwest will assist," Deger added. "However, California stands to gain little from this, and the same is likely true for New Mexico, at least in the driest parts of the state."

While most of Mexico is experiencing a "moderate" drought, there are a few tiny places in northern Mexico that are experiencing a "severe" or "exceptional" drought, according to the North American Drought Monitor.

"We are looking forward to a successful fall season," the firm stated. "We appreciate our consumers' patience and continuous support throughout this trying period."

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