Sriracha Chili Sauce Moving To $40M Bottling Plant In Irwindale
IRWINDALE (CBSLA.com) — Sriracha Chili, the fiery red sauce in the distinctive bottle with a rooster on it, is moving to a $40 million, 650,000 square foot plant in Irwindale.
The well-known sauce has been a Southland staple since 1979. It's hard to not find it on food trucks, fancy restaurants, taco stands and pho shops.
Sriracha is also sold in grocery stores across California and Mexico. It can be found on store shelves in every state and every continent.
The business has been growing and booming since the days when founder David Tran first bottled the fiery concoction (made from chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, salt and sugar) in baby jars.
Months after moving to the United States as a Vietnam refugee, Tran started growing spicy peppers on a farm near Moorpark.
The Irwindale plant produced its first batch of Sriracha sauce last year, but Tran had to truck the bulk product back to the 68,000 square foot Rosemead plant for bottling, the Pasadena-Star newspaper reported. But the new bottling line is now ready in Irwindale.
Tran founded the business -- Huy Fong Foods -- 32 years ago -- in Los Angeles' Chinatown. Tran moved to a factory in Rosemead six years later.
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