Johnny Hebert’s parents built Hebert’s Mini-Mart in 1998, and he acquired it in 2001. Hebert worked offshore on an oil rig, until it collapsed. After the incident, he decided to live a quieter, safer life operating the convenience store that was his parents but is now his. His wife, L’ree Hebert, joined him in 2002, and they’ve operated the store together ever since.

L’ree and Johnny operate a massive deli from their humble convenience store which makes up a major portion of the business, and earned them a spot as a finalist in the 2023 Best of the Teche. Because of the deli’s popularity, It retains a large part of the business’s planning focus.

“We spend a lot of time coming up with new items and perfecting the ones that we have. We like to think that our quality control is good. So we established a really good customer base with our deli and we take a lot of pride in our food business,” L’ree said.

They don’t just serve fabulous breakfast and lunch out of their huge deli, because when they say convenience store, they mean it. L’ree called the business a “typical” convenience store which sells snacks, candy, alcohol and soft drinks. That’s not all, however, as the business acquired a federal firearms license (FFL) in November which granted them the capacity to sell firearms and ammunition. As avid hunters for many years, and having recently entered the world of competitive long-shooting, both Johnny and L’ree are extremely knowledgeable about firearms. L’ree said Johnny always gave people advice and direction, but now he can advise on their own products.

“A Lot of times people don’t want to go into big box stores when they aren’t comfortable and they feel stupid asking questions. My husband’s always been willing to talk to people about firearms and firearm safety and his opinion on what would work best for them and answer all of their questions, so he’s always done that, he just couldn’t supply anybody,” L’ree said.

Building a dedicated customer base is impossible without dedicated employees. One of their employees has worked there for 18 years, another for 15, one for 14, one for 12, and two for five. They work tirelessly alongside L’ree and Johnny’s daughters to feed every hungry face that comes through their quaint store.

“They are very loyal. This nomination is for them too, so we are really proud of them,” L’ree said.

Born and raised in Lydia, Louisiana, L’ree said they love Iberia Parish and were proud and humbled to be selected as finalist for the Best of the Teche.

“We are really really excited to be nominated. We really take a lot of pride in our food and our employees take a lot of pride in what they do providing that for people. We are in a small community, so we have a lot of local residents plus a lot of local businesses that have been customers of ours since the beginning who really support us so we try to give back to them as well. But to get the recognition of people saying that they’re enjoying the food that we’re putting out, not just supporting us and getting a hamburger, but saying that they really like our hamburgers,” L’ree concluded.