Texas woman shops at H-E-B. Then she finds something problematic about the tortilla chips: ‘Quality down…prices way up’

When a person goes to the store, they expect to find properly filled products and high-quality goods. But that’s not what one woman saw when she went to H-E-B for some nacho chips.

TikToker Magaly Mercado (@magalymercado_) noticed something unusual about the chips at her local store. So, she posted a TikTok that’s received more than 102,000 views. She highlighted how few white corn tortilla chips a customer would receive when purchasing a bag.

“I [just] wanted some nacho chips,” Mercado wrote in the caption. “And don’t get me wrong I LOVE HEB but what is thisssss.”

Viewers pointed out how expensive the chips would be when half-filled, which raised questions about inflation and consumers’ best interests.

Is This Chipflation?

In Mercado’s video, she highlighted that “H‑E‑B Original Restaurant-Style White Corn Tortilla Chips” seemed half-filled. The product, according to H-E-B’s website, is supposed to contain 14 ounces of tortilla chips. H-E-B features images of a filled tortilla bag rather than a half-empty one online. 

Some said they noticed that bags of H-E-B brand tortilla chips seemed underfilled when they visited the store.

“I literally noticed that on Fourth of July weekend. I was like $4 for half a bag of air… and my [expletive] still bought them,” one person said.

While some commenters said the lack of chips may have been an error, others argued that H-E-B was skimping consumers.

“It’s called inflation… they inflate the bags and take chips out,” one viewer jokingly said, while referring to shrinkflation.

Consumers have been hotly debating whether goods at restaurants, grocery stores, and even brands have shrunken in size.

Some viewers claimed that shrinkflation and overall inflation have affected the prices of goods at H-E-B.

“I try not to go to HEB…Walmart has been my go to lately. HEB has gotten ridiculous,” one viewer said.

Some blogs and online discussion threads have said that H-E-B’s prices are on the rise, although it’s unclear how much the store’s prices have increased when compared to other grocery store chains. 

Viewers, however, claimed that prices have gone up but quality has remained the same or diminished at the Texas-born store. 

@magalymercado_ I just wanted some nacho chips ?? and don’t get me wrong I LOVE HEB but what is thisssss #heb #fyp @H-E-B ♬ Saxophones getting louder – Sped Up – AntonioVivald

How did H-E-B respond?

A representative from the grocery store chain saw Mercado’s post and said the company would look into the matter in a TikTok comment.

“That definitely doesn’t look right… We’ll touch base with our Belton store to make sure we get some batch info sent to our chip plant. We appreciate the heads up,” they added.

It’s unclear whether H-E-B found any specific issue with the batch information sent to its chip plant, or whether the chip issue only occurred in Belton, Texas. Some viewers, however, praised the company for its response.

“The fact that HEB is in the comment section and said we will fix it. Then said thank you for pointing it out so they could fix it. Is why HEB is the best grocery store chain,” one viewer said.

Others mentioned that with rising costs and issues with individual products, they’ve switched to other grocery stores.

“Some people’s eyes were finally opening up to H-E-B,” one commenter said.

The Mary Sue has reached out to Mercado via email and TikTok direct message, as well as H-E-B via email for comment.

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