H-E-B, San Antonio, Texas, acquired Favor Delivery, an Austin, Texas-based on-demand delivery service.

With this partnership, H-E-B accelerates its path to become a digital retail industry leader in Texas, enabling customers to choose how they shop, pay for and receive products. The partnership also complements H-E-B’s brick-and-mortar operations by growing its online presence to meet customers’ evolving needs and expectations.

Favor will continue to operate independently as a separate brand led by Jag Bath, president and CEO. H-E-B will retain all of Favor’s employees and its 50,000 runners, who operate as contract delivery drivers.

“I am thrilled to have H-E-B join forces with another well-respected and innovative Texas company,” says Martin Otto, H-E-B’s chief operating officer. “We share similar values, including a commitment to excellence in customer service and to our greatest resource – our people. Over the past two years, we have established a strong working relationship with Favor that has proven to be immensely successful for both companies. We see a unique opportunity with this partnership to support and accelerate each other’s growth through the sharing of experience, insight and resources.”

“We could not be more excited to be part of H-E-B,” says Bath. “I am incredibly proud of our team’s success and the business we have built at Favor. H-E-B’s extensive resources, capital and retail food industry experience will enable us to further build on our momentum and significantly accelerate our growth throughout Texas.”

With Favor, H-E-B gains access to best-in-class, consumer-facing technology and the company’s on-demand advanced delivery system. H-E-B will also leverage Favor’s data-driven approach to capture valuable insights to deliver the best customer experience possible.