DailyDirt: Sriracha In Everything

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The hot sauce that has gotten insanely popular over the past few years is getting into everything. Several fast food chains -- Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Taco Bell, Subway, Jack In The Box, Panda Express, Wendy's -- have added Sriracha to their menu in some way. There's no trademark on Sriracha, so there's no legal friction to using the name/product. Maybe some products aren't using the real sauce, but it's still free advertising for the authentic Sriracha. (And do you really want to risk alienating the rabid fans of Sriracha just to save a few bucks using a knock-off hot sauce?) If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: astronaut, beer, fad, flavor, food, popcorn, rooster sauce, spicy, sriracha, tabasco, trademark, vodka


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 Feb 2015 @ 5:03pm

    People can say anything they want, but the Siracha guy is walking away from millions by not trademarking it. People use that stuff like ketchup.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 20 Feb 2015 @ 6:39pm

      Re:

      "Sriracha sauce" existed before Huy Fong went into business and has been called that for a while. Can't be trademarked since it entered the lexicon prior to anyone commercializing the sauce.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2015 @ 1:17am

        Re: Re:

        No.

        It didn't enter "the lexicon" until he called his concoction 'Siracha'.

        Go ask your Grandma how she used siracha...

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 23 Feb 2015 @ 8:46am

      Re:

      If people are using his stuff like ketchup, then I think that Fong isn't walking away from millions at all. He's making them.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      JBDragon (profile), 23 Feb 2015 @ 8:57am

      Re:

      The real stuff is great!!!! I put it on a lot of things. Give it a try on Pizza for example!!! YUMMMMMM!!!!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        JBDragon (profile), 23 Feb 2015 @ 9:00am

        Re: Re:

        It's really good on Susi Rolls also!!! It really does work well on so many things. It's not really HOT, but it has a really good flavor.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 20 Feb 2015 @ 5:40pm

    Am I the only one that feels that Sriracha is highly overrated? I'm not saying it's bad, I just can't agree that it's as amazing as almost everyone seems to think.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      art guerrilla (profile), 20 Feb 2015 @ 8:46pm

      Re:

      andrew ? is that you ? ? ?
      hee hee hee

      fyi, andrew zimmern of 'bizarre foods' teevee show (which i like and watch a lot), had a segment on a show i saw recently about the sauce and vietnamese immigrant who started the company, and that was something he repeated throughout the segment: didn't see what all the fuss was about...

      not sure if it was a new or old show, but that was pretty much his take: thought it was 'ok' sauce, but no big deal... kind of weird thing is, he made allowances for how much he admired the guy and his operation, and *THAT* was what made it a 'great' product for him...

      frankly, while i certainly do admire the guy and what he has done, i have not had a chance to try the sauce yet (and not something i am generally into *that* much: a little hot sauce on a wing or shrimp, whatever, sure, but not an every meal thing for me; besides, i like some spicy thai and peanut sauces better); BUT, basing your 'taste' in that condiment on how it was made and the backstory, is kind of retarded: either you like the taste of the sauce and buy it because of that, or you don't...

      having said that, i am intending to buy a bottle *because* the guy seems like a quintessential American success story, BUT, if i don't care for it, i won't buy any more *just because* he is a 'good guy'...

      also, having seen the segment, i have *some* qualms with the fact that they are mono-culture farming of -i think it was- 2000 thousand acres devoted exclusively to peppers... i think we are fucking up big time with mono-cultures, and need to go back to interplanting on smaller scales, varied crop rotations, etc which provides the benefits of a diverse agricultural ecosystem, and sustains the land better than mono-cultural, force-fed fertilizers, endless dousing with herbicides/pesticides, BECAUSE YOU HAVE ELIMINATED all the beneficial microbes and bugs that could help us raise crops...
      HOWEVER, that argument can be made for 90%+ of our agricultural products, because 'that is they way it is done' in a system dominated by Big Ag... not fair to pick on him for what is the prevailing practice...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        art guerrilla (profile), 20 Feb 2015 @ 8:57pm

        Re: Re:

        um, 2000 acres, not 2000 thousand...
        guess i can't resist going full-pedant even on myself...
        im an idjit ! ! !

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      David, 21 Feb 2015 @ 12:37am

      Re:

      Same here. Like ketchup, I am not into this kind of "package your taste in a sugary goo".

      So I find it at best somewhat more appealing than ketchup. And ketchup is the bane of any cook with a tad of conscience.

      At the same time ketchup is undeniably popular.

      Basically, it would seem that the roosters are going for the "Heinz tomato ketchup" angle: sell in a hugely inflated cut-throat market at a larger margin than your fly-by-night competitors by banking on brand recognition. And if you are around for decades in a cut-throat market, you get time to improve your product and get the processes under control in order to deliver reliable quality from a changing availability and constitution of ingredients. "I remember this one, and it was pretty ok".

      Like you, I don't consider the sauce amazing. It beats ketchup, but that's a low bar to cross. But still a bar made of solid gold.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Dave Cortright (profile), 20 Feb 2015 @ 6:28pm

    The Oatmeal has been pushing this stuff for years

    Popular Internet comic The Oatmeal uses Sriracha as a recurring theme in his comics and quizzes. He even has a whole section of his web store devoted to Sriracha-themed wares, like "Hot Cock" boxers and lip balm.

    I just picked up a bottle of Trader Joe's branded Sriracha. We'll see how it compares...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Spaceman Spiff (profile), 20 Feb 2015 @ 7:11pm

    What can you say?

    Mo' hotta, mo' betta!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    larrydines (profile), 23 Feb 2015 @ 2:41am

    Si Racha

    Actually the sauce originates from Thailand not that far from Bangkok at Si Racha. Not Vietnam. Not California. The sauce is just deseeded dried chillis, peeled garlic cloves, salt, sugar & water. No vinegar. Soak it all together for a while, boil and puree.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.