Houston-area businesses among finalists in H-E-B competition
Three Houston-area food companies are among the 25 finalists for H-E-B’s Quest for Texas Best competition to find new products to introduce to aisles of the Texas-based supermarket chain.
The competition, set for Aug. 9-10 in Austin, will hand out big money for the winners — $25,000 grand prize; $20,000 first place; $15,000 second place, and $10,000 third place — as well as the opportunity to boost their brand visibility via H-E-B’s “Texas Best” Primo Picks label. The grand prize winner also will receive a Toyota Tundra.
This year’s event had entries from more than 700 entrepreneurs from 140 towns and cities across the state. The finalists will be judged on quality, marketability and product readiness.
Since the program’s inception in 2014, Quest for Texas Best has brought more than 430 new products to H-E-B’s grocery, bakery, deli and market shelves. Last year Houston-based WarPig F.U.B.A.R. BBQ Sauce won first place.
Bellefontaine: Owner Lucienne Duforets, originally from France, creates French-style ice cream using local fruits and nuts and milk from Texas farms. Ten flavors include salted butter caramel, pistachio, rose and bananas Foster. The company also makes dairy- and glutenfree sorbets such as dark chocolate, mango and passion fruit, and coconut.
Chef Rey Inc.: This Sugar Land company headed by Reynold Darthard, also known as Chef Rey, makes cheesecakes in seven flavors including strawberry, raspberry, chocolate swirl and sweet potato. Darthard’s résumé includes stints working as a chef for professional athletes and sports teams, including the Astros and Rockets. Mad Hectic Oatmeal: Founder Beth Gallo, a breast cancer survivor, created a line of oatmeal mixes using all-natural ingredients with no artificial colors, sweeteners or trans fats. The flavors include strawberry pecan, French chocolate, and raspberry almond. The company’s Random Acts of Oatmeal program donates bags of oatmeal to food banks.
Big Little Fudge: Robin Strickland and Kevin Graham make more than dozen different flavors of fudge involving ingredients such as cranberries, cherries, pecans and coconut in bite-size packages. They started the mom-and-pop operation in Montgomery after leaving jobs in the oil and gas industry.