Hy-Vee moves beyond groceries with new diet and exercise subscription

Hy-Vee's latest service is taking the West Des Moines-based grocery chain beyond the typical supermarket.

Shoppers won't just have access to fresh produce, frozen goods, a butcher and the like. For $99 a month and a minimum three-month commitment, they can now turn to the store for a one-stop wellness shop with the Healthy You subscription service.

Hy-Vee dietitians designed the new service to offer patrons a chance to better control their health. Some of the program benefits include personalized nutrition counseling twice monthly, preventive health screenings, cooking workshops, on-demand workouts and wellness classes.

Phil Lempert, editor of Supermarketguru.com, calls the subscription service a first among grocery chains and sees it as part of the future of preventive medicine, even envisioning health insurance companies potentially covering such programs.

"What I love about a program like this is you can incorporate how to eat healthy on a budget," Lempert said.

Healthy You builds on Hy-Vee's investment in telehealth from the start of the pandemic that helped dietitians stay in contact with shoppers, said Melissa Jaeger, a corporate Hy-Vee registered dietitian.

The new service aims to guide shoppers to purchase groceries based on their personal health profiles, whether they're trying to manage weight, cholesterol, blood glucose or another health or dietary issue.

Grocery stores are ideal partners for shoppers to improve their health, said Stephanie Schultz, a vice president of the Association for Retail and Consumer Professionals in Chicago.

"Everybody needs to eat, and most people utilize grocery stores as the places to get their food," said Schultz, also a dietitian.

Some diet plans, like Weight Watchers, are as cheap as $15 a month but don't offer many services. Others, like Nutrisystem, can cost upward of $280 a month but provide prepared meals. Gym memberships can have a similar cost range. Hiring a personal trainer or nutritionist would be another separate cost. Healthy You tries to bring all that, along with groceries, under one umbrella.

All 32 Hy-Vee locations in Minnesota offer the program, which began a week ago. In-person services are offered at 12 locations, including Plymouth, Brooklyn Park and Savage.

University of Minnesota professor Mark Bergen sees Hy-Vee branching into a subscription model outside its core business as a way of boosting profit on otherwise low-margin groceries. He also thinks it could help ensure customers return to Hy-Vee.

The subscription service is available across Hy-Vee's eight-state region to people 18 and older. The dietitian team also offers twice-annual preventive health screenings for cholesterol, A1c and more. Jaeger said shoppers would be referred to their doctors if test results warranted further medical attention.

Hy-Vee is a leader in health and wellness, Lempert said. For more than 20 years, the chain has employed a team of registered dietitians who offer store tours and produce recommendations. Some services are also available in Spanish.