TAKING HEAT

Sriracha Fans Fume About Huy Fong’s Milder Taste

Some say they’re switching to the company’s former chili supplier, which makes its own sauce.

Some sriracha fans are getting all hot and bothered about Huy Fong Foods’ return to shelves, claiming the spicy sauce no longer packs the same kind of punch as it once did. The product has been hit by a series of supply setbacks in recent years after parting ways with Underwood Ranches, the company that supplied Huy Fong Foods’ peppers for 28 years. The sriracha company told LAist in January that while the post-supply shortage recipe hasn’t changed, the taste and spiciness levels can vary from batch to batch because of variations in where and when chilis are harvested. Some fans are now switching to Underwood Ranches’ own product, Dragon Sauce, in search of the old fiery taste, according to USA Today. “We were the ones who supplied those peppers for 28 years. We were the ones who came up with the varieties that worked,” Craig Underwood said. “So, yeah, I would say now that we’re supplying the peppers for our own sauce, we’re making the sauce the way it used to taste.”