Quest for the best

4 Dallas businesses make the cut in H-E-B supermarket competition

With Encina's pancake mix, you can make pancakes like this at home.

Courtesy photo

Texas grocery chain H-E-B is nearing the end of its search for the next crop of Texas-made products to hit the shelves, with 10 newly revealed finalists.

Its Quest for Texas Best competition is now in its 11th year of engaging small businesses to find the best of their products, in return for $70,000 in cash prizes and the overall winner will be stocked in H-E-B stores.

For the 2024 competition, a release says, H-E-B received more than 16 hours of video from 470 entrepreneurs. Although submissions came in from more than 118 cities, the finalists come from just six places, with Dallas and Austin taking multiple spots. Ultimately, four products will win tiered prizes.

The finalists cover lots of ground, from regional and international specialties to improvements on common staples.

In Dallas, where the Quest is based, four companies go head-to-head:

Encina: the New American restaurant in Oak Cliff and the only restaurant on the list, contributes its popular blue corn butterscotch pancake mix
HydroNation: electrolyte-rich sports drinks made with all-natural ingredients
Marasi Foods: frozen naan pockets packed with enough ingredients to constitute a full meal
Sarape Treats: candy coated in chamoy paste and spice mix

H-E-B is also calling BeeKing's Honey Dust, a sweetener from a company in Canton, a "Dallas" finalist, but Dallasites would probably view that as a bit of a stretch.

The 2024 winners will be selected on August 9 at Dallas' Fair Park, when a panel of judges awards $25,000 to a grand prize winner with distribution via H-E-B.

Three more prizes will be awarded: $20,000 to first-place winner; $15,000 to a second-place winner, and $10,000 to a third-place winner.

The 2023 winner was a Houston-based business called PhoLicious, which won the grand prize for its instant pho.

“Small businesses drive innovation and keep our communities vibrant, which is why we are dedicated to finding and supporting the best small businesses in Texas,” said James Harris, senior director of diversity & inclusion and supplier diversity for H-E-B. “We are amazed year after year by the creative products submitted for the competition and look forward to making these inventive products available to our shoppers.”

The 2024 H-E-B Quest for Texas Best finalists are:

BeeKing's – Honey Dust – Canton
Birria Queen – Birria Seasoning Bombs – Austin
Certified Country Lemonade – Frozen Lemonade & Sweet Tea – Austin
Encina – Blue Corn Butterscotch Pancake Mix – Dallas
Hess Street Foods – Chorizo seasoning paste – Utopia
HydroNation – Natural Sports Drinks – Dallas
La Pale Frozen Fruit Bar – Mini Frozen Paletas – Brownsville
Marasi Foods – Frozen Filled Naan Bread – Dallas (Allen)
Sarape Treats – Chamoy Candy – Dallas
Texas Rice Milling ~ Home of Honestly Texas – Rice – Brookshire

More information about the contestants and product listings from past winners are available at heb.com.

grocery desserts heb small businesses

Bagel News

Cute shop Saved by the Bagel to bring hand-rolled bagels to Plano

Saved By the Bagel

There’s a new bagel shop rolling into Plano soon: Called Saved by the Bagel, it’s going into the former JuiceTime Cafe at 6921 Independence Pkwy. #170, where it will open on December 21.

Saved By the Bagel is a family-owned shop from Altrim Vinca, who co-owns the shop with his sister and brother-in-law, Fortesa and Thomas DiFonzo, and childhood friend Veton Hani.

The shop, which is inspired by New York City hand-rolled bagels, boasts an assortment of handmade bagels, bagel spreads, and breakfast and lunch sandwiches.

Though this is their first food shop that they’ve owned, Vinca says they previously worked in restaurants. The inspiration behind opening a bagel shop came from a desire for more family-owned bagels and variety in the Dallas area.

“We have always loved bagels,” Vinca says. “We started making our own bagels at home for our family to enjoy, and they loved it and encouraged us to bring our bagels to the public.”

Menu items include the tuna melt, the reuben with pastrami and Russian dressing, lox, bacon, egg, and cheese, and the avocado smash. For the spreads, they offer house-made plain, strawberry, scallion, honey almond, lox, veggie, and vegan.

"We grew up watching reruns of Saved by the Bell as kids, so it’s super nostalgic for our generation," Vinca says. "While we were brainstorming ideas, we had a random episode playing in the background and my brother-in-law said, “I got it— Saved by the Bagel.'"

Sandwiches typically range from $9 - $13, but they also have a couple of lox sandwiches that are about $19. For the bagel lovers who crave more than a couple bagels, a half dozen goes for $12.50 and a dozen goes for $21.

They'll also offer a selection of espresso, drip coffee, and soft drinks to wash down those bagels.

As far as the atmosphere of the shop goes, it's designed to have a "nostalgic, 90s-inspired vibe that brings back the 90s with a modern twist."

"We have many friends who live in and own businesses in Plano, so we know the area well," Vinca says. "Our goal is to not only offer a new, quick-serve breakfast spot for families to enjoy, but also to bring back memories of childhood with every bite of our bagels."

breakfast openings