Welcome to the party Food & Wine, Texans have known H-E-B is the best grocery store in America for a long time. Recently, Food & Wine named the Texas grocery chain the best in the country, including its notable response to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this year before the economic downturn and Covid-19, H-E-B was named the top U.S. Grocery retailer by Dunnhumby who released its third annual Retailer Preference Index. For the first time since the survey's inception, H-E-B knocked frontrunner Trader Joe's out of the number one spot, surpassing Amazon and Costco.
Food & Wine Names H-E-B Best Grocery Store in the Nation
Since March, American grocery stores have not been the same. Customers wait in lines, follow arrows on the floor, and wear masks to slow the spread of the virus. Stores dealt with shortages (which are starting to happen again) and frontline workers provided high-quality service while working for the minimum wage. Now, these same frontline workers are having to deal with unruly customers who refuse to wear masks. (One man even threw meat at an employee after getting angry about product limits). From what I've seen, these community heroes deserve all of our respect.
According to David Landsel, San Antonio-based H-E-B stands at the top of the list due to its proactive company-wide emergency plan, its in-store tortillerias, and its "affordable prices on a wide range of high-quality own-brand products".
When it came to preparedness, the top grocer was cool as a cucumber. It quickly implemented product limits, slashed store hours, and on top of that, all H-E-B stores offered Texas Proud Pay for its employees working during the pandemic. Now is that the best supermarket or what?
Other contenders on the list included Wegmans, Hy-Vee, New Seasons, Market Basket, Lidl, Winco Foods, Trader Joe's, Publix, and Costco. Popular grocery stores like Whole Foods, Aldi, Sprouts Farmer's Market, and Sam's Club did not make the list.
