Texas' favorite grocery chain H-E-B has completed its search for the next crop of Texas-made products to hit the shelves, and both Austin brands in the top 10 came out victorious. Birria Queen has won the grand prize in the Quest for Texas Best, earning $25,000 for its birria seasoning bombs; and Certified Country Lemonade has won second place and $15,000 for its frozen iced teas and lemonades.
In between Birria Queen and Certified Country Lemonade came Utopia's Hess Street Foods, which won first place and $20,000 for its chorizo seasoning paste. The Dallas restaurant Encina won third place and $10,000 for its Blue Corn Butterscotch pancake mix.
The 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 placement on H-E-B shelves across Texas. For the 2024 competition, a release said, H-E-B received more than 16 hours of video from 470 entrepreneurs.
Grand winner Birria Queen represents a change in Austin, which is becoming a secondary birria destination after Los Angeles. Founder and former Californian Donelle Mendoza noticed in 2018 that birria tacos were in shorter supply here, and developed a seasoning bomb — a tightly packed ball of spices — to deliver the right flavors without measuring or "mess." In addition to birria seasoning, Birria Queen also makes chile bombs.
Second place winnerCertified Country Lemonade mostly keeps things classic, using a 100-year-old family recipe. Now that the wooden stand has grown into a manufacturing operation, it produces more than 25 flavors using freshly squeezed lemons and local honey. Frozen lemonades and teas are the latest offering, packaged in pouches for sipping or cups for enjoying with a spoon, like sorbet. Flavors include strawberry sweet tea, jalapeño lemonade, and "Bubba Peach" lemonade.
These frozen lemonades and sweet teas can be eaten with a spoon.Photo courtesy of Certified Country Lemonade via H-E-B
From Utopia, near San Antonio, first place winner Hess Street Foods makes chorizo simple with a seasoning blend. It uses a family recipe (one of several on the list) in its seasoning paste, which can be easily scooped out in whatever quantity needed, rather than single-use packages. Plus, the paste is vegan, making it easy for creating substitutes at home.
In Dallas, where the Quest is based, third place winner Encina beat three other finalists. It was the only restaurant on the list, and its unique blue corn pancakes are a popular menu item alongside other New American dishes. The other Dallas businesses did not place: HydroNation offers up electrolyte-rich sports drinks made with all-natural ingredients; Marasi Foods presents frozen naan pockets packed with enough ingredients to constitute a full meal; and Sarape Treats shows off candy coated in its signature chamoy paste and spice mix.
Now Texans can easily make these at home.Photo courtesy of Encina
The 2024 H-E-B Quest for Texas Best finalists were:
- 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
In 2023, a Houston-based business called PhoLicioustook home the grand prize for its instant pho. Austin's Funky Mellow, a vegan company making snack packs with pretzels and vanilla marshmallow crème, was one of the 10 finalists, but ultimately did not win a prize.
Austin's last win was in 2022, when Love&Cookies took first place for its frozen gourmet cookie dough. Since then, H-E-B has added the product to its roster, and the business has opened a new brick-and-mortar location on South Lamar Boulevard.
“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.”
More information about the contestants and product listings from past winners are available at heb.com.
This story was originally published about the finalists on July 26, 2024, and has been updated August 9 to reflect the winners.
