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Sriracha Will Stay In California, But Might Expand Out-of-State
Sriracha is staying put in California, owner says. (Photo Illustration by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Hot sauce maker David Tran announced that his Sriracha factory is staying put in California despite his recent troubles with the City of Irwindale over complaints of the beloved red sauce's spicy odors.
Tran told KPCC that he's been in California for more than 30 years and intends on keeping his factory here. However, he's considering opening another Sriracha factory outside of SoCal, but did not mention where yet.
Other states, including Alabama, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Kansas have all been trying to court Tran into moving his operations or opening a new factory in their state lines. Today, Texas state Rep. Jason Villalba is visiting the plant along with other business and agricultural folks to convince Tran to consider expanding to their state. Tran had written a letter in April to Villalba, inviting him to visit his facotry:
“(I) would first like to cordially invite you to come visit (the) facility in Irwindale so you can observe firsthand our operations as well as to assess whether there is any potential issues that may affect your residences before the company considers moving to Texas."
San Fernando Valley Rep. Tony Cardenas is promising to work with Huy Fong Foods in order to keep the beloved hot sauce maker in SoCal.
Tran told the L.A. Times last month that he was thinking about moving his 600,000-square-foot plant out-of-state after he faced months of red tape with local Irwindale officials. The City Council voted his operations as a "public nuisance" in April after a few residents complained that they were suffering from burning eyes, headaches, heartburn, inflamed asthma and nosebleeds.
Huy Fong Foods' attorney John Tate told city officials that they were cooperating and working on the problem with the South Coast Air Management District (AQMD); they had plans to fix mitigate the issues by June 1, but the City Council had decided to go along with their decision.
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Tran likens his recent troubles to something that would happen to him back in his home country, Vietnam. KPCC reported:
Tran, the CEO of Huy Fong, says he escaped from Vietnam almost 35 years ago to be free of the communist government there and its many intrusions. "Today, I feel almost the same. Even now, we live in [the] USA, and my feeling, the government, not a big difference," Tran says.
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