Dallas-Fort Worth’s food and beverage industry ranges from giants like Frito-Lay and Darling Ingredients to startups with creative, tempting treats. Related sectors employ more than 420,000 people in the region, generating $27 billion in economic output. But ever since the frozen margarita machine was born at Mariano’s in Dallas, we’ve been drawn to innovators who think up new ways to sip, snack, and drink. Here are four that caught our fancy recently.

HTeaO: 26 Flavors of Iced Tea

Fort Worth-based HTeaO offers “ultra-premium” iced teas and coffee at 68 locations in five states. CEO Justin Howe first got the idea for the company when his parents’ Amarillo restaurant saw a sales jump in flavored ice teas. He opened his first Texas Tea location in Amarillo. By 2018 he had three locations, rebranded them as HTeaO, and began selling franchises. This month, Dallas-based Crux Capital and Trive Capital both decided to have a taste—by getting a minority stake in the company.

Julie’s Real Offers Paleo Treats

Founder Julie Fox changed what came out of her kitchen after her husband, Mike, had a health condition, getting rid of grains, dairy, processed foods, and refined sugars while adopting the Paleo diet. She began making nut-based snacks like almond butters, cashew butters, and grain-free granolas using only real, whole-food ingredients. That led her to launch Dallas-based Julie’s Real in 2015, offering everything from grain-free granola “office packs” to Paleo baking mixes to Paleo dark chocolate grain-free granola bars.

Chef Pii enjoying Pink Sauce [Photo: Dave’s Gourmet]

Pink Sauce: TikTok to Walmart

TikTok went nuts last summer when Miami-based influencer Chef Pii posted her “Pink Sauce”—a Pepto-colored concoction that fascinated millions. But she ran into issues when she tried to sell it. That’s when Dallas-based Dave’s Gourmet—famed for its Dave’s Insanity Sauce—stepped in. Dave’s turned the sauce into an official shelf-stable product, and this month the big deal arrived: Walmart has become the exclusive retailer to carry Pink Sauce until July 2023 in over 4,300 Walmart store locations nationwide.

Rollin’ n Bowlin’ Gets Realsy

The co-founders of Fort Worth healthy food concept Rollin’ n Bowlin’ got real in November about helping people “kick a sugar craving.” Their solution: Realsy, a new CPG line of nut butter-filled dates. The snacking brand is a CPG spinoff of the startup that co-founders Sophia Karbowski and Austin Patry launched from a food truck as TCU students in 2017. Karbowski calls Realsy a “small but soon-to-be mighty platform” that will “disrupt the better-for-you snacking industry with an actually good-for-you snack.” —D.S.

A version of this story was originally published in Dallas Innovates 2023.

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