Help
yourself to some spicy hot and sweet entrepreneurship. When Saigon fell, the
enterprisingly minded ethnic Chinese David Tran understood he had to get out of
Vietnam while he still could. Arriving in America completely destitute, he
would develop and market one of the most popular hot sauces going. Despite
recessions and national contractions, his condiment has consistently enjoyed
twenty percent annual sales growth, without any advertising. Griffin Hammond provides
the commercial Tran never produced with his affectionate short documentary Sriracha (trailer here), which screens
this weekend during the 2014 Houston Asian Pacific American Film Festival,
following its Los Angeles premiere at the recent Dances With Films.
Sriracha
is not nearly as readily available as ketchup, but if you dig it, you probably
put it on everything. While Sriracha was initially embraced by the Vietnamese
immigrant community, it was derived from a well known regional Thai sauce known
as Sriraja Panich. It might be a Pan-Asian culinary phenomenon, but it is an
American success story. Named after the Panamanian freighter that ferried Tran
to America, his Huy Fong Foods Company is constantly expanding. Still run as a
family business, they have one very fortunate farmer harvesting peppers round the
clock for their “rooster” sauce.
Frankly,
Hammond spends a little too much time explore hipster foodie love for Sriracha,
but his profile of Tran is terrific and timely. Tran’s success is an inspiring
example of the transforming power of capitalism and freedom combined with hard
work and family support—and he rather seems to see it that way too. He has
created something special, yet in recent weeks, the local Irwindale, California
bureaucrats jeopardized the considerable jobs and cool cache he brings to town
with their suits and regulatory hassles. Tran and his company deserve better
treatment.