24 Facts and GIFs About Sriracha
Nathan Johnson
Published
06/12/2014
in
Pop Culture
Ever wonder what makes this hot sauce so amazing?
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In 1980, Vietnamese refugee David Tran founded Huy Fong Foods in Rosemead, California. -
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He named the Company after the ship that brought him to America. -
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Just one company, Underwood Ranches in Camarillo, California, grows the chiles used to make Sriracha. And Huy Fong Foods only buys from them. Above, workers dump hand-picked chiles into crates for processing. -
4.
Equipment does some of the work though. Owner, Craig Underwood, says the farm will grow 48,000 tons of peppers this year... -
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...that would take up a field about the size of lower Manhattan, south of Houston Street! -
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After sorting, a conveyer belt hoists the peppers onto trucks. The farm sends about 30 semis to Huy Fong Foods daily. -
7.
Once the chiles leave the trucks, processing starts. -
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They look like red quicksand funneling into factory machines. -
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First, a windmill-like device washes the chiles, removing any dirt or chemicals. -
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Then they enter a grinder. -
11.
Kind of looks like ground beef, doesn't it? -
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After that, industrial, blue barrels store the chile-mash. -
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Later, the mixture gets a dose of garlic and sugar. Below, the sauce cooks while churning. -
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Next, packaging begins. The old factory not shown could produce about 70,000 bottles daily. -
15.
Huy Fong Foods' new facility, however, is 2.5 times the size and yields about 180,000 daily on one line! -
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Factory machines also take care of the the final touch, those signature green caps. -
17.
Here, more machines automate the process of reeling in the filled bottles for capping. -
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On the other side, comes out the capped bottles that are then tightened. -
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Like clockwork, out comes a steady line of that Sriracha goodness! -
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Aside from the 17oz and 28oz bottles, the company also plans to sell 9oz and gallon-sized containers too. -
21.
Surprisingly, the company doesn't advertise any of their products. Fans, however, often pick up the slack, featuring this dancing chicken. -
22.
Still, Huy Fong Foods has no trouble selling the special sauce. "The past 30 years, the economics sometimes go up and down. For me, I feel nothing. Every day, every month, the volume increases," Tran said. -
23.
Most importantly, Tran wants to keep the price low for his "chile friends." -
24.
And they use it on almost everything! Simply amazing, wow!
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