Huy Fong Food’s rooster-stamped, green-tipped Sriracha sauce once again lines shelves in grocery stores. It’s possible Alex Jack is part of the reason why.
The Imperial Valley pepper farmer was asked by a middle man if he could grow 500 acres of red jalapeños for an unknown producer. He did it, was paid handsomely via a bank wire and now plans to plant 200 acres more in February.
He has not been told who is buying the jalapeños, though he suspects it is Huy Fong Foods, the hot sauce company that once used 100 million pounds of peppers a year in producing its hugely successful sauces.
“I was told to keep blinders on my eyes and look forward and don’t ask questions,” he said.
Huy Fong Foods officials aren’t saying anything, but speculation is rampant in California’s pepper-growing community the Irwindale company is using intermediaries to reach out anonymously to farmers in search of ramping up production.
At least one grower who was approached about jalapeños, Edgar Terry of Ventura, said he was told the buyer is Huy Fong. He turned the offer down.