24 Facts and GIFs About Sriracha

1.

In 1980, Vietnamese refugee David Tran founded Huy Fong Foods in Rosemead, California.

2.

He named the Company after the ship that brought him to America.

3.

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...

5.

...that would take up a field about the size of lower Manhattan, south of Houston Street!

6.

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.

8.

They look like red quicksand funneling into factory machines.

9.

First, a windmill-like device washes the chiles, removing any dirt or chemicals.

10.

Then they enter a grinder.

11.

Kind of looks like ground beef, doesn't it?

12.

After that, industrial, blue barrels store the chile-mash.

13.

Later, the mixture gets a dose of garlic and sugar. Below, the sauce cooks while churning.

14.

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!

16.

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.

18.

On the other side, comes out the capped bottles that are then tightened.

19.

Like clockwork, out comes a steady line of that Sriracha goodness!

20.

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!