SAN ANTONIO – H-E-B officials are reminding customers that while it’s important to be prepared, there’s no need to hoard or “panic buy” amid the coronavirus pandemic. Customers have expressed concern after seeing empty shelves at stores, but H-E-B officials say their warehouse is full, and they’re restocking the store shelves daily.
“We have the food and items that our customers need to sustain them through the long term," H-E-B spokesperson Julie Bedingfield said from inside the warehouse.
Nearly 1,300 trucks continuously supply H-E-B stores daily and video shows the Texas grocer has plenty of merchandise.
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While officials continue to urge consumers not to panic, H-E-B has had to limit certain items to help protect the supply chain.
Customers will currently be limited on purchases of the following items:
Food items
- Chicken – 4 units
- Ground Beef – 4 units
- Water – 2 multipacks and 2 gallons, total of 4 items
- Eggs – 2 units
- Frozen vegetables – 4 units
- Frozen breakfast – 4 units
- Frozen pizza – 4 units
- Boxed dinners – 8 units
- Pasta – 4 units
- Pasta Sauce: 4 units
- Rice – 4 units
- Canned Soup – 8 units
- Canned Vegetables – 8 units
- Canned Beans – 8 units
- Canned seafood – 8 units
- Canned meat – 8 units
- Dried Beans – 4 units
- Nut butters – 4 units
- Oatmeal – 4 units
- Cereal – 4 units
- Bread – 4 units
- Milk – 2 units
- Powdered Milk – 2 units
Non-food items
- Baby Diapers – 2 units
- Baby wipes – 2 units
- Toilet Paper – 2 units
- Paper Towels: 4 units
- Disinfecting & Antibacterial sprays/wipes – 4 units
- Liquid Bleach – 2 units
- Hand sanitizer – 2 units
- Hand soap – 2 units
- Hydrogen peroxide – 2 units
- Rubbing (Isopropyl) Alcohol/swabs – 2 units
- Latex Gloves – 2 units
- Masks – 2 units
H-E-B has had to hire more short-term employees and is also adding sneeze guards at registers to keep customers and staff protected due to high traffic in the stores.
“We will continue to restock our stores,” Bedingfield said.
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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