Vietnamese refuge who developed Sriracha didn't trademark the name

[Liberal_in_LA]

With no trademark, Sriracha name is showing up everywhere

Wander down almost any supermarket aisle and it's easy to spot one of the food industry's hottest fads. Sriracha, the fiery red Asian chili sauce, has catapulted from a cult hit to flavor du jour, infusing burgers, potato chips, candy, vodka and even lip balm.

That would seem like a boon for the man who made the sauce a household name. Except for one glaring omission.

David Tran, a Vietnamese refugee who built the pepper empire from nothing, never trademarked the term, opening the door for others to develop their own sauce or seasoning and call it Sriracha.

That's given some of the biggest names in the food business such as Heinz, Frito-Lay, Subway and Jack in the Box license to bank off the popularity of a condiment once named Bon Appétit magazine's ingredient of the year.

Restaurant chains and candy and snack makers aren't buying truckloads of Tran's green-capped condiment emblazoned with the rooster logo. Nor are they paying Tran a dime in royalties to use the word "Sriracha" (pronounced "see-RAH-cha&quot .

"In my mind, it's a major misstep," said Steve Stallman, president of Stallman Marketing, a food business consultancy. "Getting a trademark is a fundamental thing."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-sriracha-trademark-20150211-story.html#page

[zappaman]

1. That's a bummer.

Still the best sauce though

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. what does it taste like?

[zappaman]

5. Heaven.

Spicy, but not overpowering with a nice dose of garlic.
I use it instead of ketchup.

[lumberjack_jeff]

7. Hate. It tastes like hate.

It is the worst hot sauce I've ever had, and I'm not finding it to be an acquired taste. My wife thoughtfully but unfortunately bought a large bottle of the stuff, and I'm about half way through it.

[Warren DeMontague]

24. WRONG WRONG YOU ARE WRONG WRONG SIR

IM SORRY I CAN STAND FOR JUST ABOUT ANY SORT OF BLASPHEMY BUT THIS AGGRESSION WILL NOT STAND, MAN


It's like this friend I have who I agree with on like 99% of everything... politics, music, philosophy- but they're like "I hate spicy food"

WHAT?

...anyway--- you buy pho whaddaya put in it? Salt? Ewwwwwwwwwwww.

[lumberjack_jeff]

30. Hey, careful man... there's a beverage here.

I don't dislike the gooey crap because it's too hot, although it may be a tiny bit so because it doesn't flow like any self-respecting hot sauce should.

I find every other kind of hot sauce superior, but I'm really fond of Tapatio.

[Warren DeMontague]

31. Tapatio is good stuff, except for the logo.

For some reason they've got John Edwards in a sombrero, on the thing. It aint right.



Cholula chili lime, now that's the shit.

[lumberjack_jeff]

32. Heh. +1 n/t

[REP]

34. I like spicy food; that's why I don't like Sriracha

I usually just make my own hot oil, so no "x brand name is better." Just think Sriracha is gross.

[Warren DeMontague]

35. I had a passionate love affair with it about 10 years ago.

Now it's just another one in the rotation. So I hear ya.

[Dorian Gray]

37. I think you are

objectively wrong.

But, if you hate it, why don't you just throw it out? Or let your wife use it and you use whatever sauce you like?

[lumberjack_jeff]

41. She bought it for me, (she doesn't like spicy food), but the kids do like it when they visit.

It was a gift of sorts, and I appreciate the sentiment... if not the sauce.

I'm being a bit hyperbolic and countercultural. I don't find it completely intolerable but I will surreptitiously buy some tapatio and use that instead.

[hifiguy]

17. it's good, but I find it a little vinegary, like Tabasco.

Which means it doesn't go with any old thing you dump it on. Great in pho, though.

[PoliticAverse]

2. He could always market/trademark "Original Sriracha". n/t

[Politicalboi]

4. People should boycott those products

Till the original guy gets some money. It's like finding $20.00 on the street, and you saw the person who dropped it. If you keep it, it's stealing. Just like these vultures are doing to Mr.Tran.

[benz380]

6. To me, nothing can beat the original for taste.

I've never seen any other but Tran's brand in Asian restaurants.
My daughter-in-law is Vietnamese and a wonderful cook.
She makes the best pho I have ever had anywhere. It takes her 2-3 days to make it.

[KamaAina]

11. I actually saw (and used) a version from Hong Kong in the Embarcadero food court in SF

It was in little foil packets like Mickey D's uses for ketchup. Perhaps Tran doesn't make those.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

8. I love it on Vietnamese dishes along with nuuc mam

but on burgers and as a flavoring for chips? Nope.

[KamaAina]

12. Funny nuoc mam story

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army came up with the idea of tracking Viet Cong soldiers by sniffing out the nuoc mam that they, of course, always ate. They came up with a device that could detect the odor of nuoc mam. But their success was short-lived. The Viet Cong soon figured out that they could confuse the devices by hanging buckets of urine in the trees! Officially, the devices were discontinued because they had "a too-broad spectrum".

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

14. I read somewhere that the Viet Cong could track U.S. soldiers from the smell of beef in their sweat

During the French Indochina war, French soldiers were told to eat native foods and nuuc mam because of this.

[hifiguy]

18. Good fish sauce makes many things better.

When used with a gentle touch. I'm partial to Three Crabs brand.

[KamaAina]

21. You're partial to crabs?

[benz380]

40. It's only 3 crabs though. n/t

[benz380]

39. That's the only brand my Vietnamese daughter-in-law will buy. n/t

[Retrograde]

9. Sriracha is so 90's :)

The cafeteria at work used to have bottles of it along with other condiments back then. Now that the rest of the country has caught up it's apparently a "new" fad.

IANAL, but isn't the term sriracha about as distinctive as ketsup (or however you want to spell it)? That is, he can trademark the rooster on the bottle with the green cap, and copyright his particular recipe, but if it's a traditional sauce he may have problems getting the concept trademarked.

[Warren DeMontague]

25. I find Millennial 90s nostalgia to be funny, and a bit frightening- for me.

I'm only sort of dimly aware that they're over.

[KamaAina]

10. He might not have been able to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce

Sriracha (Thai: ศรีราชา, [sǐː.rāː.tɕʰāː] ( listen)) is a type of hot sauce or chili sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. It is named after the coastal city of Si Racha, in Chonburi Province of eastern Thailand, where it was possibly first produced for dishes served at local seafood restaurants.

So Tran did not "develop" sriracha, he merely created a particularly good version of it.

[Blue_Tires]

13. +1...Same thing with Red Bull Energy Drink

[Spider Jerusalem]

15. That'd be like Heinz trying to trademark "ketchup"

?v=2

That's sriracha, from Thailand, where it originates.

[KamaAina]

16. Hmmm. I see a bird and a green cap.

He's lucky Flying Goose doesn't come after him for infringing their trademark!

[Spider Jerusalem]

19. They'd probably have a case under "confusingly similar"

Flying Goose as far as I know isn't exported to the US, at least not in volume; it's the most readily-available sriracha here in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, though. (Seeing it here kind of made me wonder whether Huy Fong decided to copy the look of something that Asian customers would have already been familiar with from home.)

[CatWoman]

22. he was featured on Andrew Zimmern recently

[NightWatcher]

20. I just had some of this on my sushi for lunch. Thank you sir t'was yummy

[KamaAina]

23. Lip balm?!

[pinboy3niner]

26. Hey, at least they didn't include hemorrhoid cream

[KamaAina]

27. Another DUzy for pinboy3niner!

But not a single heart?! C'mon, people!

[FrodosPet]

33. I thought that's what bhut jolokia peppers are for?

[tridim]

28. Now I want Pho. Thanks. :)

[Jackpine Radical]

29. I have a 17 oz bottle of it right next to my chair.

I still have the tastes in my mouth of crackers, hummus & Sriracha.

I am prepared to swear my fealty to the Rooster.

[JI7]

36. i'm not sure if the guy is that much into money

i think he would like to do well with his own company and make money from there to live comfortably . but i'm not sure if he is into building greater and greater wealth and work out all these corporate deals to get richer and richer.

[Taitertots]

38. Have you ever tried to trademark something?

The process makes it very difficult for people/corporations that are not wealthy.

[closeupready]

42. I agree with those who say his is still the best. I'll even pay a bit more for it,

because the other kinds are too sweet, or too hot or have added flavors that don't belong.