A Dallas company will soon be hitting the shelves of H-E-B stores after being crowned “Texas’ Best” by the grocery store chain.
Local bakery Savor Pâtisserie, specializing in the French macaron, took home the grand prize late last month of the eighth iteration of H-E-B’s Quest for the Texas Best competition, winning a grand prize of $25,000 and space on the store's shelves.
“Each year, we are amazed by what Texans bring to this competition,” said James Harris, director of diversity, inclusion and supplier diversity at H-E-B, in a statement. “Despite the disruption of COVID-19, these entrepreneurs demonstrated creativity, determination and perseverance in pursuit of growing their businesses.”
The First Place prize and $20,000 went to Santa Elena, Tx.-based ground beef producer 2F Akaushi Beef. Second and $15,000 went to Austin sugar cane water maker Bhoomi, while the Third Place prize of $10,000 went to Dallas ice cream company Howdy Homemade Ice Cream.
Savor is the first North Texas company to take home a prize in the competition since Arlington-based frozen fruit bar maker MaxFrut took home the $20,000 First Place prize in the competition’s inaugural run. Over $1 million in funding and in-kind prizes have been awarded through the competition since then.
Savor was launched in 2014 by former Neiman Marcus Business Manager Kelli Watts. After outgrowing a pop-up location at the Shops at Park Lane, the company opened its first storefront Casa Linda Plaza in 2016. It now operates another Dallas location in Snider Plaza and storefronts in Fort Worth and McKinney.
Seven North Texas area companies were among the 20 finalist contenders, amid more than 1,200 applicants to the competition. Others included 1826 Farms (Terrell), BBs Season All (Forney), Live to Give Water (Dallas), Park Lane Pantry (Dallas), and Yatab Mandazi (McKinney).
The Quest for the Texas Best competition provides exposure and opportunity to fledgling Texas brands that also have production or co-packing facilities in the Lone Star state. This year marked the competition's first has included non-food products like home goods, beauty items and toys.
H-E-B has operated locally through its subsidiary brand Central Market, opening six of the 10 brand locations in the region. In June, the company broke ground on its first two DFW locations – one in Frisco and one in Plano – while announcing plans to open a location in McKinney in 2023.
“H-E-B is thrilled to shine a light on these… Texan-made products that will add to the diversity of products on our shelves and our roster of suppliers,” Harris said.
