Sriracha wars heat up? Green chili sauce hits market

A green sriracha is now on sale, offering a fiery complement to the famous red chili sauce with the rooster logo.

The new product, called Midori Green Sriracha, is made by N.Y.-based Musashi Foods, which also produces a spicy mayo.

Midori Sriracha hits the market just as California-based Huy Fong Foods, maker of the Sriracha red sauce, faces an uncertain future.

Residents in Irwindale, Calif., have complained for months about the fumes coming from the Huy Fong Foods factory. The City Council recently held off on a decision about whether to force the plant to close.

The timing of the factory controversy has been fortuitous for Musashi, which took its first orders about a month ago, said company president Gideon Sarraf.

Sarraf said many chili sauces offer a red and green version, and he saw an opportunity to fill a hole.

"It didn't make sense no one had made a green version," Sarraf told USA TODAY Network. He added, "I saw this as a complementary product" to the red sriracha.

Midori Sriracha is made primarily of green serrano chilis. Sarraf said his green sauce is spicier than the red version and is a different heat experience.

"When you first taste it, you don't think it's that spicy. Then it builds and builds and it lingers," Sarraf said.

Midori Sriracha is available on the Musashi website or through Amazon. A 12-ounce bottle costs $6.99.

The recipe comes from a green sauce Sarraf has been making for years at home. He also has a red version he hopes to release in the future. Sarraf said it didn't strike him as "prudent" to release the red sauce now when Huy Foods is so dominant in the chili sauce market.

Huy Fong Foods was founded more than 30 years ago by David Tran, an ethnic Chinese immigrant from Vietnam.

The factory was forced to shut down parts of its operations in November.

The public nuisance resolution is on the City's Council's next meeting agenda.

In the meantime, California U.S.Rep. Tony Cárdenas has offered his district in the San Fernando Valley as a new home for the factory.

USA TODAY Network has requested comment from Huy Fong Foods.

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