Homemade CREATIONS; H-E-B's private-label production is behind the chain's success.

From Memorial Day to the Fourth of July, H.E. Butt Grocery Co.'s ice cream plant will work overtime to bring some of it newest flavors to dinner tables. Apple pie with apple slices and pie crust and its four flavors of low-carbohydrate ice cream are among the latest additions to the line.

During this peak time, H-E-B will produce about 100,000 gallons of ice cream daily.

H-E-B introduced Creamy Creations in 1998, and it now makes up almost 55 percent of sales of the retailer's branded ice cream products at its 300-plus stores.

Statistics like this are not what H-E-B is known for to its shoppers, but it's details such as these that have turned it into a super regional retailer.

At H-E-B's facilities, food is researched, inspected, weighed, tested, developed and inspected again before reaching kitchen tables. With tasting, especially when it comes to ice cream, there's never a shortage of volunteers, from H-E-B employees to store customers.

The majority of this happens at the northeast corner of Rittiman Road and Loop 410. There, H-E-B has about 1.6 million square feet of warehouse space that includes a milk and beverage plant and snack food, bakery, meat, ice cream, photo and floral facilities.

The San Antonio-based retailer also has a bakery and tortilla factory in Corpus Christi and another milk plant in Houston, as well as a brand-new bakery there.

These locations don't include H-E-B's strategically placed warehousing and transportation facilities in Texas.

It's through these massive buildings that H-E-B has built its private-label empire, which produces local favorites such as Creamy Creations, Mootopia milk and the Hill Country Fare line.

But with new products being developed continuously and new plants being built or expanded, H-E-B officials say they are only successful if they can create products their customers want.

"We are trying to create products that are unique to the brands, but not at the expense of national brands," said Steve Harper, executive vice president of H-E-B's food manufacturing, procurement and merchandising.

Bob McCullough, group vice president of manufacturing, said that like national brands, H-E-B's private-label brands compete for shelf space.

Founded in Kerrville in 1905, H-E-B employs more than 60,000 people and locally is the largest employer, with more than 14,500 people on its San Antonio-area payroll.

In 2003, Forbes ranked H-E-B, which has $11 billion in annual sales, 10th in the nation among privately held companies.