Inside the Story of How H-E-B Planned for the Pandemic

Texas Monthly ^ | Date Mar 26, 2020 | By Dan Solomon and Paula Forbes

[thecodont]

The coronavirus pandemic has transformed the country in just a handful of weeks. As Americans focus on the essentials—feeding our families and ensuring we have the necessary supplies to keep our households clean and safe—grocery stores and pharmacies have demonstrated just how crucial they are to a functioning society.

We’ve seen chains struggle with the challenges the current crisis presents. Some stores are instituting policies limiting the numbers of shoppers allowed in at a time, creating long waits to enter. Perhaps even worse, other stores are not, leaving their shops a free-for-all without adequate social distancing measures. Staples like flour and yeast, to say nothing of hand sanitizer and toilet paper, are proving difficult to find on shelves. Supply chains are taxed. And the conditions faced by employees vary wildly by chain, with stores developing new (sometimes controversial) policies around sick leave for the workers who have proved themselves essential, and often doing so on the fly.

San Antonio-based H-E-B has been a steady presence amid the crisis. The company began limiting the amounts of certain products customers were able to purchase in early March; extended its sick leave policy and implemented social distancing measures quickly; limited its hours to keep up with the needs of its stockers; added a coronavirus hotline for employees in need of assistance or information; and gave employees a $2 an hour raise on March 16, as those workers, many of whom are interacting with the public daily during this pandemic, began agitating for hazard pay.

[smvoice]

HEB just delivered my groceries to my front door. I am about to enjoy fresh cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple and grapes, among other items. They are really terrific!

[mabarker1]

Besides Meats, Pablano Peppers. They try to pass Anahimes off here as Pablanos. And HEB Corn Tortilla Chips.

[smvoice]

Between Bluebell, Shiner Bock, and HEB to sell them both, Texas is blessed!

[uncommonsense]

Beer bread - makes sense. I wonder why I haven't heard of it before given my fondness for cooking with the essential food group. I'm going to talk my sister into making some and I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for the tip.

Beer is the best marinade for chicken. Chicken is really hard to grill properly so it's 1) done, 2) moist. 30 minutes soaking in beer was the trick for me. Any longer and the chicken comes out dry, any less and it's not as moist.