The share price of Exotic Food Public Company Limited (mai: XO) plunged sharply on Monday, following the report of Huy Fong’s Sriracha sauce being back on the shelf after months of shortage.
Sriracha sauce made by Huy Fong has the largest market share in the U.S., but the company faced shortage in production due to weather conditions that affected the production of chili peppers, which were the main ingredients of the sauce.
The first report of shortage was made by Huy Fong Foods Inc. in April 2022, causing the price of popular hot sauce to skyrocket in online sites such as eBay.
However, some consumers chose to alternate their taste to other brands such as a sriracha sauce from XO.
Mr. Jittiporn Jantarach, Managing Director of XO, told Kaohoon International in July this year that XO was able to continue distributing its product to the U.S., while Huy Fong faced supply shortage at that time.
“XO is currently focusing on the U.S. market,” said Jittiporn when asked for the company’s strategy and market expansion in the future.
The MD said in August that operations in the third quarter are expected to outperform on a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis. The current sales as at August already topped the previous quarter.
XO is expected to report its 3Q23 financial results in upcoming weeks.
Months have passed and now Huy Fong’s hot sauce is back in the market, according to several media outlets.
LAist said the Irwindale-based Huy Fong told the media that it had indeed resumed production of the sauce about two to three months ago.
Some Reddit users in Toronto also posted that Sriracha sauce is back in stock and on sale.
The return of Huy Fong could post a negative sentiment to XO as another producer of Sriracha sauce that shipped to the West.
However, Mr. Jantarach once said that XO has an advantage of producing its own chili from Thailand, unlike Huy Fong that relies on chili peppers from Mexico, which also gives different taste and smell.
Still, these reports had plunged the share price of XO by 16% as the trading session is closing in 15 minutes. The price is now trading at THB28.25 per share, falling from THB33.75 per share.
