David Tran is the finest example of the American Dream!

It was hard to find last summer due to the shortage. I had the opportunity to visit the factory tour in 2015. Mr. David Tran was gracious enough to take a picture with me too. Love the sauces. Pairs great with noodles, pho, orange chicken and Korean BBQ.

I am very proud of David Tran. My mom is also a Viet-Chinese from South Viet Nam. Great to see something so many Asian Americans grew up with branching out to the rest of the country and beyond!

Thanks to David Tran for creating an iconic hot sauce as well as not selling their company to some conglomerate. The problem with selling to conglomerates is that they tend to cheap out on everything using lower-quality, lower-cost and often times, less healthy ingredients with the highest profit-margin. Keeping it in the family and not changing a thing to a popular product is perfectly fine.

“I’m just trying to make a rich man’s hot sauce at a poor man’s price” pure poetry I love this sauce .. this story makes me love it more 👏🏼

No excuses. Just hard work and determination!

My mom came over with nothing but the clothes on her back along with my brother and I. She was still in her early 20s and having to do a life or death trip across thousands of miles of ocean evading pirates, heavy storms, hunger, thirst, stress, and being tired. It's incredible what her generation has been able to accomplish with nothing and having gone through so much just to survive. I tear up sometimes thinking about this. How I would be happy to just have 10% of her sheer strength of will. She paved the way to give me the opportunity to live my dreams. I don't feel like I've reach it yet, but I will keep working to get there. The Vietnamese immigrant spirit is an incredible power that I could not ever understand fully. Even though I am a first generation immigrant as well since I came with my mom, I was merely just a spectator on her Amazing journey.

What a great story. Kudos to Mr. Tran for just keeping it out of big corporates. I hope that business never leaves his family.

Rich man’s hot sauce at a poor man’s price ❤. Also I always felt the authentic feel came from the squishy (low quality) plastic packaging implying the no-showoff attitude. Nice tribute to the sauce-maker. I always use it in my noodle recipe

in simple words:SIRACHA IS LEGENDARY

Anyone who come to our house for a meal can always find a bottle of Sriracha on the table. They can also find other kinds on the kitchen cabinet. We came to know and love it when we first ate Pho at a Vietnamese restaurant when it opens in our town back in 2000s. We were lucky to get our hands on one box of Sriracha when the news of the shortage came out last year. We thought it would last until the Lunar New Year. We were wrong. Everything was gone by Christmas.

If you are ever in the neighborhood, take a tour. It was very interesting to see a huge truck deliver a massive amount of jalapenos into a bin. I thought I could handle peppers, but it was so overwhelming to breathe in all the pepper fumes. The factory is huge too. It's amazing how much they produce at that location.

The origins of Sriracha is from the Thai city of same name, Sri Racha on the east coast of Thailand. The original recipe was invented in 1930's by a grandmother Thanom Chakkapak. David Tran bought the original recipe from the family and then brought it to the US.

We love Huy Fong Sriracha chillies sauce, we use everyday for fish sauce. Dim sum, other dipping sauces for all kinds of food: Deep fried, grill chicken, beef noodle, steam dumplings and so on....

I totally hoarded sriracha when I heard there might be a shortage. Who could live without that stuff?!? :)

I love how there was next to no ad or promo for siracha but when you have a great product, people will come looking.

Wow, thanks Forbes for featuring this story. It was touching. I am impressed by this guy's research and reporting.

This story reminds me of the Wings Food Ltd Hot Chilli Sauce packets. They had their chilli sauce in every Chinese food spot in Toronto. That packet was a staple for decades and everyone acquired a taste for that specific brand of hot sauce. Now that brand is out of business and I haven't been able to find anything like it. Its amazing that one little thing like hot sauce can bless your life and everyone around you. Inspiring story! 🙂

This really is the American dream

this is super inspiring, i am also an immigrant with a small fruit farm, and designing and creating products being my current focus. David Tran is literally the type of man i aspire to be and to leave a similar legacy for the next generations.. thanks for sharing

I love Sriracha! What a story, what a man. Beautiful :)

I find a common theme amongst Asians, work hard to get what they want in life and succeed not just for themselves but for their families/community. They don't riot/blame/commit crime and then get bitter and attack others when they don't succeed....

Huy Fung rocks and we thankfully found it in England when we moved from LA, but the term Sriracha is for thai and vietnamese hot sauce that is available from lots of thai and vietnamese vendors with a similar recipe to Tran. We think Huy Fung is the best, but its not alone.

He came to America with nothing! Just 100 ounces of gold

Mr. Tran is very approachable have met him when he holds (held…pre Covid) his annual and NO cost factory open house event in Azusa, CA. Humble and unaffected, he exemplifies the lure of the “American Dream”.

Sriracha is like Ketchup, you don't know how to use it when first seeing it. But they give Ketchup to you with fries, and they give Sriracha to you with Vietnamese Pho soup noodles.

Siracha is the name of the navy base in Thailand 🇹🇭 😍 🙌

I once accidentally bought a siracha rip off and then I knew why this guy is a billionaire cause the taste is just something else

David Tran is the ultimate American dream success story.

Original sauce and name is from Thailand, at Sriracha district, near Pataya, Cholburi, Thailand. The sauce already sold in Thai markets imported from Thailand. He cannot use the Sriracha in Thailand for the copyright. Sriracha sauce is popular and well known in Thailand to use it for seafood plate.

Cool tribute. I first tried Sriracha in 1986 when my college friends discovered pho. It used to be only in Vietnamese restaurants. At that time, there were two types: red and brown. Anyone remember this? The red was hotter, I believe it was made from serranos. The brown was pretty much the same as the current version. Much less hot and made from jalapenos. Obviously it was a mixture of red and green jalapenos to get the brown color. So it isn't quite true that the recipe has never changed.

Love this success story so much!

Essential hot sauce ! Cheers from San Diego California

This is exactly what we need: more family-owned companies and fewer publicly traded corporations.

Wow! Very informative documentary. I use Sriracha all the time , especially when I eat Sushi and Sashimi and Vietnamese food, and I never knew it was founded by Mr. David Tran, an immigrant from Vietnam. I am Chinese, as a young girl, I also immigrated from Vietnam, via 11 months at a Malaysian island, and came into the U.S.A. the same year as Mr. Tran, in 1979. I always thought Sriracha was a product from Thailand, maybe because the name sounds kinda Thai to me, and I didn't know the sauce is made in California, U.S.A. , where I live most of my life. Wow! Wonderful success story.

Pho ain’t Pho without sriracha! 💯

During the stupid pandemic we ran out and couldn’t find it anywhere in Houston it was freaking crazy. Not gonna lie I have a small stock pile now.

Wow...much deserved success! I love Siracha!

He actually told people in Vietnamese papers' interviews about his sauce that he learned the recipe from a lady in the region where he was stationed while he was a still a soldier before 1975. He modified it to his liking and started selling it after the war. In South Vietnam at the time, hot sauces were just as popular as now but the people don't care about the brand because the sauces were sold directly to restaurants, not private consumers. There was very little market for mass-manufactured foods; dry ramen noodle was one of the few exceptions. Also, there were no presence of Thai manufactured foods in Vietnam back in those days because the country hardly had any trades with foreign nations due to Vietnam was sanctioned by US embargo until the 90s. By the time he came to California in 1980 and produced his sauce to sell to Vietnamese restaurants, my theory is that he 'appropriated' (stole) the use of the term 'Siracha' from Thai- manufactured sauces selling in Asian markets because it sounds Westernized; he can't use the Vietnamese word ("Tuong Ot" is the generic term all Vietnamese use) which is harder for people to read and speak. That's why Tương Ớt was printed on the label but everybody use "Siracha" instead. So really, he didn't get it from copying Thailand sauces.

I frequent the area more than I can count but yet to do the tour. I had scricha first when I was young and ate at a Phoa restaurant. Now along with tabasco is part of the hot sauce rotation in my cupboard.

I haven't seen a bottle of Huy Fong Sriracha on the shelf since around June 2022 (Pittsburgh area.) I had to order some recently from Amazon because it's so scarce. I can't wait until it's more obtainable and I hope they bounce back from the bad growing season.

I use sriracha on everything, literally in everything besides desserts.

Huy Fong Sriracha is my favorite hot sauce since I tried it at a San Diego restaurant on my favorite beef & broccoli, in the 1980s! I use it in all of my savory recipes to add a much needed kick. I tried a different brand during the shortage. No Bueno!!! My sister went to Vegas and found some Huy Fong, and sent me a bottle! What a 🔥 hot 😎 souvenir!

I’m so proud of him that he came 2 🇺🇸w/t nothing & now is he well known all over the world. I’m happy that I’m also Vietnam & trying 2 b a role like him

My family be killing this hot sauce since the early 90s to now on everything. This sauce on fry eggs,hotdogs and cheap ramen is life saver while growing up lol. The samba and its chile oil is bomb too!!! For some reason the sauce now in days doesnt taste exactly the same and a bit more sweet than the one fron early years and it goes bad and dark too fast. Still a must have and thanks to David for this amazing hot sauce.

Love this sauce. Use it almost every dinner. The worlds best sriracha is also good. I think that’s what it’s called. Normally have it at a WF

I love making my own. Ferment tanks and all! My kitchen is full of aroma.

Sriracha is a kitchen essential

The old factory used to be close to my junior high school until they moved to Irwindale many years later, and I came to the US the same year as him and also an immigrant (Boat people) as well. Small world…

Intriguing story

I am totally loyal to this iconic sauce. I have spent decent money on replacements. None have measured up. I always had more than I need. Now I will wait. I have given away all my replacements. I will wait until I can order the original... great, perfectly balanced Srirachi. There are no replacements for me. I Admire David Tran and his story. His product is also just superior. Fans have always appreciated their favorite sauce but we will never take it for granted again(assuming it will always be there).There will be an audible celebration whan we can get our beloved Sriracha again!

Amazing story

Hands down the BEST hot sauce in the world. The sauce has body, flavor, spices, looks and best of all....taste. Other brand sucks because they all lack the correct combinations. There are many imitators(including Tabasco)...but nothing or no one comes close.

Not a lot of people know this but Sriracha is really good on burritos and tacos with a little bit of lime. I am surprised Mexican restaurants don’t serve sriracha with their food.

i cant live without it. I love sriracha

A refugee with ~$90,000 USD worth of Gold in today's money? Poor guy.

They are a part of American modern classics. Almost all the American richest came out from the near zero starting points like MS, Apple, Amazon, FB, Google, etc and etc. They once were coming from garage based or room based businesses that now connect the humans of the today world together to promote more and more understandings.

I used to work a couple blocks from his second factory in Rosemead Ca. Depending on which way the wind was blowing one could easily smell the strong odor of the chilis cooking. San Gabriel Valley has become heavily inhabited by Asians and they opened countless Chinese restaurants and on every table was a bottle of Huy Fong. Now its everywhere. The city of Rosemead screwed up and got greedy and thats when Fong moved to Irwindale making Rosemead loose lots of money in city taxes.

6:30 Here I am eating, watching this next to my Tabasco Sriracha bottle. Fairly good sauce though i have to say. But ain't got nothing on the real deal. Nothing but admiration for the man and his product, mad props.

Enunciate your words and slow down.

Vietnamese hot sauce named after a city in Thailand and made in SoCal. This was essential to getting through college.

I was 4 when we came to HK with my family on boat. It’s been 30 years now and we’re in Canada.

I love this stuff! Put it on everything!!!

Wow, what a story! Love the the brand of hot sauces.

Sriracha is the BEST!I have tried all the imitators and NONE comes close! Thank you for staying in California and producing this iconic hot sauce!

Thanks for sharing, I love Siracha hot sauce a lot.

Last spring was tough. I bought a case of it once they were back and I'm almost done. I need help 🤣

Love the sauce.

"Sriracha" is the name of a province in Thailand that has been famous for the hot sauce for who knows how long. For Thai people the recipe was stolen!

Awesome 👏🏻

I've been contributing to David Tran's wealth for 20 years

Chinese Vietnamese (called người Hoa in VN) are ethnic Chinese living in VN for many generations, there were over 2 millions of them in VN before 1975, most resided in the south, especially ChoLon district in Saigon, where over 90% were Viet-Chinese. They used to control over 90% of south VN trade and therefore very wealthy compared to the locals Viets. Unfortunately, after the communist took over south VN, the Viet Cong nationalized most of ethnic Chinese business, they lost almost all assets, then forced to fled the country, took refuge in Hongkong, China, Malaysia and the Philippines, and later settled mostly in western countries, many came to the US, and are quite successful in all fields, David Tran is one of the most successful businessmen.

"A rich man's hot sauce at a poor man's price." - love it!

Thank you mr Tran

The story of the original sauce has been changed and altered. If anyone has been to Vietnam during that time would know that there is no such Sriracha sauce there. The Namesake and the sauce are originated in Sriracha district (near Pattaya), Chonburi, Thailand, But I am happy for their success.

A wonderful American story and news clip!

I can't imagine eating pho or noodles without Sriracha.

I don’t see it in the store anymore

I grew up with this . Back in the 80’s at any Asian market for .99

Love Sriracha! ❤️

Love it

Amazing

Def needed his own documentary... back then it was easier cheaper to buy spaces n shiet.. not in today's market...

If it aint broke, dont fix it. Simple as that. Great recipe and a great businessman behind it. This is the American Dream

When life throws lemons at you, yo make lemonade, and when life throws Chillies at you, you make hot sauce and grow the business. Such is the story of entrepreneurship, grit, determination and stoically facing adversity.

I just ate Sriracha in Chinese buffet restaurants because there's nothing else...... i rather die first that eating Tabasco nasty sauce. I pure Mexican don't eat that kind of sauces.

David and i are drinking buddies. We often visit the brothels in tijuana on the weekends.

Insane to think that the top 3 hot sauces are some of the worst tasting.

Well done Mr Tran

is there still a temporary hold on production of sriracha?

Goals!

Sriracha is my go to hot sauce I put it on everything I have a bottle at work too, if I go to a friends house I bring the hot sauce as well

Buying 6 during the shortage is not a crime its Love

Sriracha is a district near Chonburi city itself. You reach Sriracha from Bangkok before Chonburi city, then Pattaya, then Sattahip which is the Navy's base and there is a huge airport there built by the American as a base to bomb Vietcong and Laos in 60-70s. The U-Tapao airport is now the aviation hub for the Eastern Seaboard Development area to service industries and tourists. There is an on-going project to link Don Mueng, Suvarnabhumi and U-Tapao, Sattahip, airports via electric trains.

Still hard to find

Sambal Oelek is very underrated. It is an awesome hot sauce I would use with wonton, dumplings, and with proteins like chicken and seafood.

Everything tastes better with this sauce. Maybe one day I'll put it on an ice cream. Hmmmm........

Sriracha is a Thai name. It's the name of a town in Thailand, not too far from the famous Pattaya beach resort. The town Sriracha is also the birthplace of the Sriracha sauce that has been the most popular sauce in Thailand (the famous land of hot and spicy food) for over 80 years. For Thais, it is so essential for many Thai dishes in particular Pad Thai and many other famous noodle and curry dishes. Thai Sriracha sauce is also quite popular among Thailand's neighboring countries including Vietnam. The fact is Thai Sriracha sauce has been created and widespread used for decades well ahead of David Tran's sauce in your story. However, Thai Sriracha sauce was first generated and distributed from a homegrown family business; like many Thai local family business owners at the time, they most likely had no idea about patenting and or trademarking concepts or strategies to protect their products and opportunities. Most Thais know about the miss opportunity of the Thai Sriracha sauce. The sad part is the Thai name Sriracha that is synonym with not only the Thai native town but also the Thai hot sauce that has been generated and used daily in Thai homes for almost a century was taken and claimed by this sauce as their own.

Love sriracha hot sauce , I always have a bottle in my fridge.

It's 8/23/23 and I cant find Sriracha anywhere.. The alternatives suck , I need my Sriracha NOW !!!!!!!! Dammit