A Texas Grocery Store Is Looking For Products Made in Texas
If you've ever dreamed of having your scratch-made barbecue sauce bottled and sold in grocery stores, this is your shot. One grocery store is looking for products, and the only requirement is that you live in Texas.
The H-E-B locations closest to Tyler are in Mexia and Corsicana, but you don't have to live near an H-E-B to have your products sold on their shelves.
H-E-B is on a mission to find the best local products made by Texans, and as they put it on their website, they're looking for the best in Texas, "From the Panhandle to the Rio Grande Valley, from West Texas to Beaumont." Whether you make barbecue sauce, bake cookies, or grow juicy red tomatoes, show them your stuff and you could have a really great side hustle very soon. And maybe it turns into a whole new career.
They've done this for the past eight years, and again in 2021 H-E-B is on a “Quest for Texas Best.” It's an "open call for locally owned, small food, beverage, and general merchandise suppliers to have their items considered for placement on H-E-B shelves and $25,000 in their pocket." Other prizes of $10,000, $15,000, and $20,000 will be awarded too. You'll have to make a short video that shows off your product, and the entry deadline is April 7th at 5 PM. They're looking for products that are marketable and unique.
With extra time at home, most of us have been cooking up a storm in the past year and maybe you've had the chance to perfect some of your creations in the kitchen. If you can mass-produce them, this could be your shot to get them on grocery store shelves. East Texas growers who sell produce and other goods at farmer's markets might find this as the next big stage too.
The finals will be held in San Antonio at the end of August. Good luck!