Why Sriracha Really Ran Out (It Wasn't The Weather At All)

Every sriracha shortage since 2022 got blamed on drought. That's not the real story. For almost 30 years, one California farm grew nearly all the jalapenos behind the rooster-logo bottle — until the company secretly tried to replace the farmer who built that supply, got caught, and lost one of the most lopsided fraud verdicts in food-industry history: $23.3 million. This is the real history of David Tran, the Vietnamese refugee who built Huy Fong Foods from a van in LA's Chinatown; Craig Underwood, the farmer who restructured his entire ranch around one customer's trust; the betrayal that ended a 30-year handshake deal; and why "the weather did it" turned out to be a much easier story to tell than the truth. Subscribe for more deep dives into the surprising history behind the food we think we already understand. #SrirachaShortage #FoodHistory #hotsauce