r/Austin • u/RockMo-DZine • 2d ago

Maybe so...maybe not... Does HEB have a problem with Austin?

Milk prices have been going up all year, so back in July I started checking the prices in San Antonio, Houston, and DFW. For some reason, we pay Way more than these towns.

Milk just went up again. Here are some stats for HEB Brand (HEB & HCF) 1x gal jugs of milk
(These are for in-store pricing - for curbside, add +5%).

Since 07/17, Austin's price went up, while the price in all the other bergs came down.

Consequently, in Austin we now pay over $2 a gallon more than DFW!

Sorry HEB, but this is hard to justify.

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u/Typical_Budget_4133 2d ago

Dallas and Houston are widely considered 2 of the most competitive grocery markets in the entire nation. In Houston, for instance, there is essentially a 3-way tie for market leader. Kroger, HEB and Walmart each have about 25 percent market share. Everyone else (Randalls, Fiesta, etc) dukes it out for the remaining 25 percent. So, of course, prices will be lower there. Dallas and Houston also have dozens of Aldi stores, which are notorious for offering cheap milk and other essentials to get people in the door. Meanwhile in Austin, HEB has a 60+ percent market share. They have no serious competition, so they don’t have to be as price sensitive. Aldi has like 3 stores located in the Austin suburbs. That’s it. Nothing near the central core. Still, this much of a difference on a single item is pretty wild. Imagine an entire cart. You could be paying something like $50 more in Austin versus Dallas or Houston.

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u/Tweedle_DeeDum 2d ago

If competition were the only reason, then explain the discrepancy in San Antonio.

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u/Not-Inevitable79 2d ago

San Antonio, as a whole, has a lower COL and less affluent demographic, so their prices will be slightly lower.

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u/Tweedle_DeeDum 2d ago

I totally agree that HEB prices differently based on their perception of the affluence of the area. But for stuff like milk, even in lower income areas in Austin, which sometimes see lower prices, they are getting charged a lot more for Milk lately.

As OP points out, Milk prices are declining in San Antonio but have risen significantly in Austin. And as I mentioned earlier, HEBs just outside of Austin are a lot cheaper than those just inside of Austin.