H-E-B Grocery Company, LP

Who owns H-E-B?
The Butt family, descendants of founder Florence Butt, holds an estimated 87 percent of H-E-B Grocery Company, LP. Employees hold equity through a stock ownership program started in 2015.

Is H-E-B a public company?
No. It is one of the largest private companies in the United States and has been family-owned since 1905, with no announced plans to go public.

How much revenue does H-E-B make?
Forbes estimated fiscal 2025 revenue at $49.6 billion, continuing steady growth from $46.5 billion in 2024 and $43.6 billion in 2023.

How many stores does H-E-B have?
455 stores across Texas and Mexico as of 2026, under the H-E-B, H-E-B Plus!, Central Market, Mi Tienda, and Joe V's Smart Shop banners.

Where is H-E-B headquartered?
San Antonio, Texas, at its downtown arsenal campus. The company was founded in Kerrville and moved its headquarters to San Antonio in 1985.

Who runs H-E-B?
Charles Butt, the founder's grandson, is chairman. Howard Butt III is CEO and Roxanne Orsak is president and chief operating officer.

Florence Butt founded the company on November 26, 1905, opening Mrs. C.C. Butt's Staple and Fancy Grocery in the family home in Kerrville, Texas, with a $60 loan. Her husband's tuberculosis had left the family without income; the store supported them.

Her son Howard E. Butt joined in the 1920s, took over, and gave the company his initials, incorporating as H.E. Butt Grocery Company in 1928. He expanded through south Texas, moving headquarters to Harlingen in the Rio Grande Valley and pioneering self-service formats in the region.

Charles Butt, Howard's son, bagged groceries as a child and became CEO in 1971. He built the modern H-E-B: headquarters moved to San Antonio in 1985, Central Market launched in 1994 as a gourmet format predating the premium grocery wave, H-E-B Plus! supercenters answered Walmart's push into Texas grocery, and Mexico operations began in 1997.

The private-label program became a signature strength under Charles Butt, growing from basic staples to thousands of H-E-B branded products manufactured largely in Texas. The 2000s and 2010s added Joe V's Smart Shop discount stores, Mi Tienda Hispanic format stores, and the 2018 acquisition of Favor for delivery.

Expansion discipline has been the constant. H-E-B famously stayed out of Dallas-Fort Worth for decades, then entered methodically in the 2020s with land purchases years ahead of store openings. By 2026 it operates 455 stores and roughly 175,000 partners. Revenue has compounded steadily: $38.9 billion (2022), $43.6 billion (2023), $46.5 billion (2024), and $49.6 billion in fiscal 2025. Howard Butt III now serves as CEO, with Charles Butt as chairman and Roxanne Orsak as president and COO.

The company's ethics standing rests on community investment and disaster response. Its mobile kitchens and relief operations during Texas hurricanes and the 2021 winter storm are widely credited with feeding communities when infrastructure failed. Its Helping Here program channels consistent support to food banks and education.

Operationally it pursues packaging reduction, energy-efficient store design, and responsible sourcing for private label. As a private company it publishes less formal ESG data than public peers, and its disclosures are program-based rather than comprehensive reporting.

H-E-B is a perennial top performer in grocery industry rankings: Progressive Grocer's top food retailers list, consumer surveys ranking it America's top grocer multiple years running, and employer rankings for its partner benefits. The Butt family appears on Forbes' list of America's richest families, with the chain's value reflecting its $49.6 billion revenue base.

H-E-B's record is comparatively clean for a company its size. Issues on record include periodic wage and labor disputes typical of retail, recalls on private-label food products handled through standard channels, and pricing scrutiny during the 2021 to 2023 grocery inflation period that affected all chains. Its dominance in some Texas markets draws occasional local monopoly commentary but no formal action.