Awards News
Spicy Dallas company is one of 10 finalists for H-E-B food competition
Spices by Spicytude
Texas grocery chain H-E-B has identified the 10 finalists for its 2025 Quest for Texas Best, an annual competition that puts the spotlight on Texas small businesses, and one Dallas has made the cut: Spicytude, a company that sells Indian spices and chai tea.
The 10 finalists were chosen from 370 entries from 150 cities across Texas.
Spicytude was founded by Arpi Neravetla, an entrepreneur who wanted to share the spices and recipes that her mother and grandmother poured into their family meals. The company sells a half dozen spice blends that are an intrinsic part of Indian cooking, for dishes such as tikka masala, vindaloo chicken, butter chicken, and rice pilaf, priced from $15 to $18. They also sell a chai masala tea blend, which can be purchased solo or in a gift-style kit with two tea mugs.
Now in its 12th year, the Quest For Best contest asks Texas small businesses to strut their stuff for the chance to win a combined $100,000 in cash prizes and the opportunity to feature their products on H-E-B shelves statewide. Since the competition's beginning, the grocer has discovered over 1,000 unique products.
"Quest for Texas Best is not only designed to find the best Texas-made products, but also to empower local entrepreneurs with the resources, exposure, and mentorship they need to grow," says James Harris, H-E-B senior director of diversity & inclusion and supplier diversity, in a release. "H-E-B was once a small business, so we understand the power and potential they can have, and we cannot wait to share the winning selections with our customers."
The full list of finalists is as follows:
- McAllen — Deli Spices Cooking Spices, easy Mexican spice blends made with dried chiles for restaurant cooking at home
- Dickinson — Jam-In Tools Crawfish Peeler, a handy gadget that takes the hassles out of crawfish boils
- Boerne — Kleine Smokehouse Bacon, oak smoked bacon made on Boerne’s Hill Country
- Sugar Land — The Lavish Goat Bath Products, a line of bath bombs and menthol-infused shower steamers
- Houston — My Drink Bomb Cocktail Mixers, low-calorie bombs that can make sparkling water into an instant mixed drink, with or without alcohol
- Houston — Long Phung Food Products Vietnamese Meats, a line of ready-to-heat favorites made with quality ingredients and no artificial additives
- Bryan — Rigo's Dairy Latin-Style Cheese, a family-run cheese plant bringing Venezuelan flavors to the U.S.
- Austin — Oca Foods Peanut Butter Bites, an addictive snack inspired by a beloved childhood treat in Brazil
- Austin — Tozi Superfoods Tortillas and Tortilla Chips, snacks made from indigenous superfoods like amaranth and blue corn
- Dallas — Spicytude Spices, flavor kits meant to take the guesswork out of Southern Indian cooking
The first-place winner will receive $25,000, the second-place winner will receive $15,000, and the third-place winner will receive $10,000.
The final contenders will face off on September 25 at H-E-B's headquarters in San Antonio, where judges will determine the top four winning products and award $50,000 to the Grand Prize winner and the "Texas Best" title — an honor that guarantees placement on H-E-B store shelves.
