San Antonio-based H-E-B holds a special place in the hearts of Texas grocery shoppers. It also holds a special place among the country’s privately owned companies.

H-E-B ranks fifth on Forbes’ new list of the country’s largest privately owned companies based on annual revenue. According to Forbes, the grocery chain’s annual revenue is $32.8 billion, making it the largest private company in Texas. On its website, H-E-B reports annual sales of $32 billion.

Meanwhile, trade publication Progressive Grocerlists H-E-B’s 2020 revenue at $36.8 billion, which puts it in 13th place among North America’s largest grocery retailers. And trade publication Supermarket Newspegs H-E-B’s 2020-21 revenue at nearly $31.8 billion, which gives it the No. 15 ranking among the biggest food and grocery retailers in the U.S. and Canada.

H-E-B’s financial success can be tied in large part to its popularity among Texas grocery shoppers.

This year, Amazon knocked H-E-B off its No. 1 perch as America’s best grocery retailer in a survey by market research company Dunnhumby. H-E-B fell to No. 2 this year. H-E-B had grabbed the top spot from Trader Joe’s in Dunnhumby’s 2020 survey.

Trade publication Grocery Divenoted that H-E-B’s No. 1 ranking in last year’s Dunnhumby survey reflected the chain’s “efforts to cultivate a strong customer base among Texans with customer service, local products, and unique experiences in each store.”

The only other San Antonio company on the Forbes list is construction engineering company Zachry Group. It ranks 225th, with annual revenue of $2 billion.

Nearly all of the other Texas companies in the Forbes ranking are based in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas. Thirteen DFW companies and five Houston companies show up on the list.

Dallas-Fort Worth

• Grand Prairie-based alcohol and wine distributor Republic National Distributing, No. 25, $11.9 billion in annual revenue.
• Dallas-based conglomerate Sammons Enterprises, No. 70, $5.8 billion in annual revenue.
• McKinney-based roofing distributor SRS Distribution, No. 80, $5.4 billion in annual revenue.
• Irving-based arts-and-crafts retailer Michaels, No. 81, $5.3 billion in annual revenue.
• Dallas-based luxury retailer Neiman Marcus, No. 101, $4.7 billion in annual revenue.
• Irving-based electrical systems and equipment maker Consolidated Electrical Distributors, No. 103, $4.6 billion in annual revenue.
• Fort Worth-based food and beverage distributor Ben E. Keith, No. 107, $4.2 billion in annual revenue.
• Dallas-based oil and gas explorer Hunt Consolidated, No. 113, $4 billion in annual revenue.
• Frisco-based transportation and logistics software provider Transplace, No. 127, $3.6 billion in annual revenue.
• Addison-based cosmetics retailer Mary Kay, No. 164, $2.8 billion in annual revenue.
• Plano-based senior healthcare provider Golden Living, No. 178, $2.6 billion in annual revenue.
• Dallas-based general contractor Austin Industries, No. 217, $2.1 billion in annual revenue.
• Dallas-based transportation and logistics company Mode Transportation, No. 220, $2.1 billion in annual revenue.

Houston

• Car dealership group Gulf States Toyota, No. 45, $8.3 billion in annual revenue.
• Energy company Calpine, No. 48, $8 billion in annual revenue.
• Petroleum and petrochemical products marketer Tauber Oil, No. 61, $6.7 billion in annual revenue.
• Casino, restaurant, and sports conglomerate Fertitta Entertainment, No. 166, $2.8 billion in annual revenue.
• BMC Software, No. 219, $2.1 billion in annual revenue.

One other company on the Forbes list, New Jersey-based IT company SHI International Corp., has a strong connection to Texas. Austin billionaire Thai Lee, with a net worth estimated at $4.1 billion, is co-founder, president, and CEO of SHI. The company ranks 28th on the Forbes list, with annual revenue of $11.1 billion.