[imagesource:wikicommons]

A years-long shortage of the chilis has caused the black market for Sriracha Sauce to go wild, and these days lovers of the spicy sauce are willing to pay up to $120 (R2 250) per bottle.

Huy Fong Foods, which makes the bottled sauce has been buckling under a chilli drought, and production has slowed to a near standstill.

It might be a bit premature to scour eBay for your next Sriracha fix, but according to CNN, the sale of these condiments is increasing on the site. Whether people are actually buying a $5 (R100) bottle at $120 (R2 250) is anyone’s guess, but knowing people, we bet they are.

“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.”

We do love a good panic buy.

There’s been a shortage for the past three years, as Huy Fong has said that its chilli peppers have consistently been in short supply. Last year, it temporarily stopped orders because of the shortage, which also affected its Chili Garlic products.

Sriracha is made of chilli peppers, vinegar, garlic, salt, and sugar. The sauce was created in 1980 by Chinese immigrant David Tran and has made its way to the shelves of even South African retailers like Woolies and Pick ‘n Pay. Since then it has become a favourite among SA consumers and is seen by many as a more flavourful option to Tabasco.

Most of our retailers still stock the sauce, so there should be no need for us to dive into the dark web for now. Still, better to stock up.

[source:cnn]