TAMPA, Fla. — There is a shortage of Sriracha impacting everyone who loves the spicy sauce. And now — the resale of the product has prices at crazy markups.
Prices for a bottle of Sriracha are as high as $100 in some Facebook Marketplace listings. Even to purchase the condiment from grocery stores online, can cost upwards of $40 a bottle.
Some listings offer a single packet of Sriracha for $350. The person who posted it wrote, "I hate to part with it but my family has had some struggles recently and baby needs a new pair of shoes. No looky loos. If it’s still posted it’s still available. I’ll take it down as soon as it sold. No low Ballers, I know what I’ve got!"
10 Tampa Bay spoke with one man selling his spare bottle of Sriracha for $100. Rob Lauro owns "Go Stuff Urself," which is a food truck. He regularly buys Sriracha to be used as a topping for his dishes. He said the last time he was able to purchase any in stores was roughly six months ago.
"So at one time, they were only [selling] about the case," Laura said. "So that really was what got me like why is it only by a case?"
Now, the sauces can't be bought anywhere in any capacity.
Lauro said when he initially listed a bottle of Sriracha for $100 on Facebook, it was a joke. But now, he's getting interested buyers messaging him.
"Well, they laugh at it, and then they realize, wait a minute, I can't find it anywhere," Lauro said. "Nowhere. So when they're enjoying the sushi and the dipping in there — it's nothing like Sriracha, so you got to spend 125 bucks sometimes for it, I guess I don't know. Is it gonna happen? Who knows?"
Laura said he saw this shortage coming. And while he isn't holding his breath on someone paying $100 for the spicy sauce, the sale listing is real.
"I knew it was gonna happen. I really did," he said. "I knew there was gonna be a shortage. And I just wanted to see what would happen if I put it up for a crazy price. And it took a little while but now people are jumping on it. I mean their hits their hits for people looking to spend like 60-70 bucks in the bottles."
For Lauro's business, he said he has the off-brand options on hand, but it isn't quite the same.
"But there's something about that pepper that in Sriracha has, and it's that chili pepper that has that total flavor," Lauro said. "So you really notice in a lot of the sauces that you put it in."
The company recently told CNN that it's still experiencing a shortage of raw materials. "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," a Huy Fong spokesperson said.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.