Sriracha Factory Shutdown Could Send Prices Through the Roof

What would be worse, the odor or inflated prices?

Neighbors of the Sriracha hot sauce factory in Irwindale, Calif. want it shut down due to an aggressive, overwhelmingly foul odor (burning eyes are never cool), but the company CEO says that would result in sky-high prices. 

According to David Tran of Huy Fong Foods, stopping production would lead to prices jumping "a lot." Tran told the Los Angeles Times that the company is just barely meeting the demand for Sriracha as it is, moving about 200,000 bottles daily, all of which were already sold.

Tran added that the company installed active carbon filters and an additional layer after being approached by the city about the smell last year. Huy Fong Foods director of operations Adam Holliday told the Times that the company is working to reach a solution, but isn't sold on the city's suggestion of a $600,000 cleaning system. 

"Burning the pepper air just didn't seem safer," he said. 

The Times also notes that the reason why complaints have risen recently could be attributed to the chile harvesting cycle that it's currently undergoing. However, Sriracha fans might want to begin hoarding bottles in the event of a plant shutdown or any shortage of sauce.

RELATED: First We Feast - A Tour of the New Sriracha Factory

[via Los Angeles Times and LAist]

Latest in Pop Culture