This Beloved Grocery Store Beats Costco as the Best Grocery Chain in America for 2026
Texas-based retailer H-E-B is officially the best grocery store chain in America for the fourth year in a row, according to consumer data science company Dunnhumby’s 2025 Retailer Preference Index. The top ten is as follows, with three regional chains holding the top spots: H-E-B, Market Basket, Woodman’s, Costco, Aldi, WinCo Foods, Trader Joe’s, Amazon, Wegmans, and ShopRite.
“2025 threw a lot of curveballs at the U.S. consumer,” said Matt O’Grady, President of the Americas for Dunnhumby. “Shopper confidence dropped as concerns about higher prices, fewer job opportunities, and stagnant wages eroded purchasing power. Consumers across all income levels are feeling the squeeze and making more price-conscious choices. In this environment, building trust with American shoppers has never been more critical.”
So what exactly is H-E-B getting right? Dunnhumby rates chains on five pillars: Price, Promotions, and Rewards; Quality; Digital; Operations; and Speed and Convenience. H-E-B gets top marks across all five. The consensus is that H-E-B, which has 400 locations across Texas and Mexico understands Texas, and shows genuine care for customers. Even during the current storms raging across parts of the country, H-E-B reassures shoppers the chain is doing its best to help them prepare for extreme weather.
“At H-E-B, our top priority is taking care of Texas,” a spokesperson with the grocery chain said in a statement to Express News. “Across our business, we regularly prepare for extreme weather events. All stores are operating normal hours. Our stores are receiving product deliveries, and our dedicated Partners will restock shelves throughout the day, so we can serve our customers with the products they need.” The chain store did the same during Winter Storm Uri in 2021, keeping stores open when the power went out for many people.
Not only does the chain offer great pricing on everyday groceries at a time when many people are feeling the bite of inflation and high costs, but H-E-B is big on Texas pride. “They Texas-ify everything,” content creator Emily Hill of the Texas Grocery Finds social media accounts tells KUT News. “There’s Texas-shaped tortilla chips … they have spider-web-in-the-shape-of-Texas decor all over the place this year and cowboy ghost stuff… They’re making sure they’re woven into how we feel about our culture in a positive way. It feels like they get us.”
The first North Texas location of H-E-B opened in Frisco in 2022 to hugely positive feedback, leading to another planned soon. “It is a lot of work,” said executive director Juan-Carlos Ruck. “Couple of years in the making, easily. We like to joke, but when we saw the reaction to our first store in Frisco and the 1,500 folks standing in line, we knew we had to get started on the second store quick.”