A handshake helped build one of America's best-known hot sauces. Nearly three decades later, that same business relationship ended with a jury finding Huy Fong Foods liable for breach of contract and fraud, resulting in a $23.3M award to its former pepper supplier.
The dispute involved David Tran, founder of Huy Fong Foods, and farmer Craig Underwood, whose ranch supplied the red jalapeños used in Sriracha for about 28 years. What began as a close commercial relationship became a legal battle over future crops, investment, and whether Huy Fong concealed its plans to end the arrangement.
