Hy-Vee Implements Healthier Checkouts

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Hy-Vee is adapting over 100 check lane fixtures in 105 stores across its eight state territory to accommodate fresh fruit, nuts, baked chips, bottled water, milk and other healthy snacks to replace sugary food and drink. 

“Our customers love them,” Helen Eddy, assistant vice president of health and wellness for Hy-Vee told SN.

Hy-Vee piloted the concept in a single lane as an offshoot of the AARP/Blue Zone Vitality Project in its Albert Lea, Minn. store. The lane was stocked with soy nuts, carrots, and other foods consumed in so-called Blue Zones — places in the world where inhabitants are healthiest and longest living. 

Although that check lane was identified with Blue Zone signage, the new lanes will not be branded this way, Eddy said. Store dietitians are helping raise consumer awareness.