IRWINDALE, Calif. — The gig: Craig Underwood, 72, is a fourth-generation farmer who grows all the chili peppers for Huy Fong Foods, a Los Angeles-area operation that makes the wildly popular Sriracha in the signature green-capped bottle. Underwood, a Navy veteran and graduate of Cornell University, farms an expanse of land.
Diverse operation: Underwood Ranches, his wholesale business, is based near the coast. His direct-sales business, Underwood Family Farms, has been visited by schoolchildren on educational farm tours for years. Underwood also operates produce stands, appears at farmer’s markets across the Los Angeles region and maintains a Community Supported Agriculture program in which members receive a box weekly filled with seasonal fruit and vegetables grown on his farm. An annual festival he helps organize raises about $100,000 for community organizations including high schools, firefighters and Boy Scouts.
A dire decade: The 1980s were tough for growers like Underwood. California was experiencing overproduction in crops with the expansion of the state’s water project. Underwood even had to cut back his successful baby vegetable business. Large producers made his mini carrots obsolete by carving regular-sized carrots into bite-sized snacks.
An important letter: Late in the 1980s, Underwood wrote a letter to David Tran, chief executive and founder of Huy Fong Foods. The two had never met, but Underwood pitched the idea anyway of growing jalapenos for him. Tran agreed to 50 acres the first year. When Underwood delivered the peppers on time and another supplier didn’t, Tran increased his orders. Underwood now grows 2,000 acres of peppers for Huy Fong Foods. “We’ve developed an incredible relationship,” Underwood said of Tran. “As an example of his trust and faith in us, he rarely comes out to the fields. We give him quality and consistency.”