Chamoy takes H-E-B's 'Quest for the Best' top prize

2022-08-27 00:57:12 By : Mr. JOHN You

Annie Leal, on the right in the pink shirt, and her father Leopoldo celebrate their grand prize win Wednesday.

San Antonio products may not have taken home any prizes from H-E-B's "Quest for the Best" contest, but most of us can probably get behind grand prize winning chamoy products. I Love Chamoy, a business out of McAllen, took home the grand prize of $25,000, Alamo City-based H-E-B announced in a Wednesday, August 24, news release. 

I Love Chamoy products claim that its sauces are authentic sweet, tangy, and spicy flavor, but all of its sauces are sugar- and carb-free, allowing chamoy lovers (like myself) to enjoy guilt-free. It's founder, Annie Leal, says on her website that she was born and raised in Mexico, so the sauce was a common treat for her and her family. 

Then her dad got diabetes, so she created a chamoy that her father could enjoy without being a risk to his health. Leal is quite active on TikTok where she has humorously documented the company's "biggest L's"  — when the sauce was in a bottle that looked like shampoo or body wash from Bath & Body Works.

Now I Love Chamoy's sauce is in more sauce-friendly bottles that can be found on H-E-B shelves.

H-E-B has held the "Quest for the Best" contest since 2014 and gave out $80,000 in cash prizes to five Texas-based winners this year. There were initially 10 finalists that were in the running, including a San Antonio-based coffee drink Puro Nitro. In the end the San Antonio business didn't make the top 5 winners.