In a March 2011 RetailWire discussion of Hy-Vee's test selling only healthy snack items at a checkout lane in a store in Minnesota, Richard George, Ph.D., professor of food marketing at the Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph's University, wrote that the concept represented "a real potential upside for retailers who may consider employing it in more than one checkout as a point of positive differentiation."
Last month, Hy-Vee announced it was expanding a similar concept to over 100 stores across eight states. The lanes offer healthy snacks (such as nuts and baked chips) along with fresh fruit instead of the normal sugary options found at most checkouts.
The chain has increased its health focus in the last year including its participation in the "Healthiest State Initiative," first announced in August, which is looking to move Iowa from the nineteenth healthiest state to the first by 2016.
Ric Jurgens, CEO of Hy-Vee, told Penton Business Media last month, "We can change an entire state and eventually an entire country."