Thread: Sriracha Maker: Government In U.S. Reminds Me Of Communist Vietnam

Sriracha Maker: Government In U.S. Reminds Me Of Communist Vietnam

May 15, 2014 by Sam Rolley

SCREENSHOT

Sriracha, a cult-following-turned-mainstream hot sauce, recently came under attack by bureaucrats where the condiment is manufactured in Irwindale, Calif., after a handful of residents complained about a spicy smell from the factory. David Tran, whose company makes Sriracha, said that the government regulatory abuse has become so intense that he feels like he’s back in communist Vietnam, the nation he fled three decades ago to seek opportunity in the U.S.

At a recent Irwindale City Council meeting, Tran asked the local lawmakers, “Why do you hate me? Why do you want to shut me down?”
Last year, a local resident forced Tran to shut down a part of his Huy Fong factory. And a month ago, city officials moved to declare the entire operation a public nuisance.
The New York Times explains:

To local residents, the problem with the Sriracha factory is one of overwhelming odors. When the factory is grinding chiles in the fall, the scent of red jalapeños — so sweet once bottled — blows through town like a malevolent wind. Residents say that the chile-laced air burns their eyes and noses, causes coughing fits, and forces them to take cover indoors.
But the prospect that officials may force the closing of Huy Fong Foods, which produces about 20 million bottles of the sauce each year, has taken people by surprise. The 650,000-square-foot factory employs about 70 full-time workers and around 200 during chile season, when up to 40 truckloads of fresh peppers arrive each day from Ventura County, north of Los Angeles. The chiles are ground that same day, part of a round-the-clock operation.

But Tran and many locals who talked to media outlets said that they have experienced no problems as a result of the hot sauce production.
“I work face to the chile for 34 years. Why am I still here?” 68-year-old Tran said in an interview. “Maybe I should have died already.”
A woman who lives just blocks from the factory told Vice: “I honestly don’t smell it. Everybody eats that chili sauce. You go to any Chinese restaurant or any restaurant around here — really, they have that stuff on the table. I’m 100 percent in favor of them staying here.”
City officials are showing no signs of backing down, which has prompted officials from at least 10 States and several municipalities to extend an invitation for Tran to bring jobs to their areas. Most recently, a group of Texas lawmakers paid the businessman a visit.
But while Tran said he is open to expansions in different areas, fully moving his Sriracha operation to a different area could prove difficult because he has grown alongside many of the vendors who supply his ingredients in the area.
“Other cities say, ‘Irwindale is not friendly, come to my city,’” he told The Times. “Other states say, ‘California is not friendly, come to my state.’ Other countries say, ‘U.S.A. is not friendly, come back here.’”
He added, “I’m not sure why the U.S.A. lets local government do stupid things like this.”
In a separate interview with NPR, the businessman noted, “Today, I feel almost the same [as when I left Vietnam]. Even now we live in the USA, but my feeling, the government, not a big difference.”

http://personalliberty.com/sriracha-...unist-vietnam/

<sub>Conservative Lady

Vietnam Refugee Turned American Success Story Sees Similarities Between Governments



Vietnam Refugee Turned American Success Story Sees Similarities Between Governments

America fought a war against the communist regime of North Vietnam. Now it...
gopthedailydose.com

Vietnam Refugee Turned American Success Story Sees Similarities Between Governments

Posted on 16 May, 2014 by Rick Wells

America fought a war against the communist regime of North Vietnam. Now it seems that when we left Saigon, the communism followed us home.
Vietnam refugee David Tran finds himself in an odd sort of déjà vu. He and his family fled Vietnam with 3,000 others on a Panamanian freighter in December of 1978.
He has since gone on to become an American success story. Tran started manufacturing his favorite hot sauce, which he was unable to find in his new home, as a way to support his family. He initially sold it in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles, but his sauce proved popular and the demand grew. He now heads a company with international recognition.
His hot sauce is known as Sriracha, after its place of origin, Si Racha, Thailand. He named his company after the freighter which brought him and his family to their new life, the Huey Fong, calling it Huy Fong Foods.
In 2010 the growth of Tran’s company necessitated a move into a new facility in Irwindale, California. That location has since proved to be problematic.
Local residents have complained to city officials about the smell and irritation they claim to experience during the three months in which the company processes their peppers.
Tran was considering moving his operation out of the liberal enclave of control, threats and restrictions to another city or state where they are more appreciative of the economic benefits his operation provides. For now he has decided to stay put.
His frustration was displayed in a recent NPR interview in which Tran compared the government heavy-handedness in Irwindale to what he experienced in Vietnam under the communists.
Tran said, “Today, I feel almost the same [as when I lived in Vietnam]. Even now, we live in [the] USA, and my feeling, the government, not a big difference [between the U.S. and Vietnam].”
An increasing number of natural-born Americans would agree with Mr. Tran’s assessment

http://gopthedailydose.com/2014/05/1...n-governments/</sub>

Lawsuit Against Sriracha Hot Sauce Factory Dropped; City Tables Nuisance Resolution

May 29, 2014 by McClatchy-Tribune

LOS ANGELES (MCT) — The Irwindale City Council has decided to drop a lawsuit against the Sriracha hot sauce factory and table a separate resolution declaring the factory a public nuisance.
The city and the factory began warring late last year, when residents began to complain of a spicy odor that caused headaches, heartburn and watering eyes.
The trial was scheduled to begin this November, and the public nuisance declaration would have eventually authorized city officials to enter the factory and make the changes themselves.
But city officials said Huy Fong Foods Inc. had finally demonstrated a specific written commitment to solving the smell issues. Mayor Mark Breceda, who toured the factory earlier this week, said the conflict should not have been so drawn out.
“We’re almost sorry that this has gone on so long,” Breceda said. “We’re looking forward to being partners for a very long time.”
The council voted unanimously Wednesday to table the resolution and decided in closed session to drop the lawsuit.
Huy Fong Foods Chief Executive David Tran was not present at the meeting but thanked his supporters in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
“From now on, I will be concentrating on making my hot sauces quality better and better, with the price being lower and lower,” Tran said.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the city has relaxed its position. Tran has promised before to fix the issues, in writing and in person at council meetings through an attorney, but Irwindale officials still sought regulatory action.
The conflict has dragged on for nine months, drawing the attention of politicians around the country, who sought to lure the popular hot sauce manufacturer to their State.
John Tate, attorney for Huy Fong Foods, said the council’s decision Wednesday did not result from any legal settlement between attorneys.
“Management (of the city) met with the mayor, and they had a frank discussion which resulted in a willingness to work together,” Tate said.
City officials say they will visit the Sriracha plant again when it begins to grind peppers harvested in the fall. The plant is still functioning under a court injunction that bans harmful odor-causing activities, but it’s up to the city to go back to court to enforce that, Tate said.
The conflict seems to have ended without any official agreement about whether there ever was a harmful odor.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District did not find enough evidence of a harmful smell to justify issuing a violation, and air quality officials say about two-thirds of the complaints they received came from just four households.
The first complaints came from City Councilman Hector Ortiz’s son. In February, Huy Fong Foods began to offer daily tours through the factory and asked each participant if they experienced any harmful odors. None did.
But the city’s own smell study, by Santa Monica environmental consulting firm SWAPE using a different survey method, found harmful odor levels in multiple areas around the city.
RELATED: Sriracha Maker: Government In U.S. Reminds Me Of Communist Vietnam

–Frank Shyong
Los Angeles Times
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