H-E-B will open at least three new manufacturing plants over the next few years plus in 2014 unveil an online service to sell some grocery items, says Bob McCullough, the company’s senior vice president of manufacturing.
The San Antonio-based grocer is mulling development of a milk-processing plant in Mexico, a U.S. snack-production facility and at least one more manufacturing site, McCullough said after a presentation at a San Antonio Manufacturers Association expo.
He declined to say what the company would manufacture at the third plant and where it would be located.
“We’re looking to stretch capacity right now, so certainly all of these would be within the next five years,” McCullough says.
McCullough says H-E-B also expects to announce an online-sales operation this year. That would seem to put it in competition with delivery services such as Amazon.com’s Prime Pantry and Google Shopping Express, which couriers products from Target and Costco.
He declined to discuss specifics about the online operation, however.
“It will be a world-class offering you’ll be very excited about,” McCullough adds.
H-E-B operates 337 stores in Texas and Mexico and has sales of more than $18 billion, making it one of the nation’s largest grocery chains. It makes and processes food products at more than a dozen manufacturing facilities, including three dairy plants.
McCullough didn’t reveal the company’s potential investment in the three proposed plants or how many people they might employ.
The company currently produces snack foods such as its potato chips at one of its San Antonio plants, but its next such facility will be in a separate location, McCullough says. He declined to say what cities the company is considering.
“That location is really driven by transportation costs,” he adds.
H-E-B spokeswoman Dya Campos says the company frequently evaluates its manufacturing capabilities.
“H-E-B is continuously innovating and expanding our manufacturing capabilities," she said via email. "While we are exploring expansion options, there is not a definitive timeline.”