7 Fareway Secrets Iowa Employees Wish Shoppers Knew

Fareway keeps its Iowa employees around for decades at a time. The company says its meat market managers average 29 years on the job.

Some have stayed as long as 40 years.

That kind of tenure builds up knowledge that never makes it onto a sign.

These are the Fareway secrets Iowa employees wish shoppers knew.

1. No Tipping the Carry-Out Crew

Fareway sends a staffer out to the parking lot to load your groceries into the car.

That part is standard.

Fareway’s posted values say the carry-out comes without tipping, so there’s no need to reach for your wallet.

The same greet-you-at-the-door approach extends past the parking lot, too.

That same values page promises staff will help you find everything you’re looking for while you shop.

It’s part of the company’s stated values, not a favor from a particularly friendly employee.

2. Free Custom Cuts at the Counter

Fareway’s meat experts will cut, tenderize, and wrap meat just the way you want it.

The case is self-service, so many shoppers grab a package and never think to ask for it.

A single whole pork loin can become any of 10 different cuts once a butcher gets a request.

Fareway has offered U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Choice beef, all-natural pork, and farm-fresh chicken since the store’s earliest days.

Staff behind it will also walk you through how to cook whatever you just asked them to cut.

Just ask.

3. Student Loan Help for Staff

Fareway backs its long-tenured staff with a benefit called Fareway Fast Forward.

Full-time employees can get up to $100 a month toward student loan debt, starting 45 days after they reach full-time status.

Not a one-time bonus.

Fareway caps the benefit at $5,000, or 50 months of maximum payments, a fraction of the nearly three decades a typical meat market manager has logged there.

A third-party administrator sends each payment straight to the loan servicer, where it goes toward the principal.

It’s a staff benefit, so shoppers seldom see it advertised at the register.

Fareway rolled it out on January 1, 2019, saying it wanted employees who had skipped college over the cost to reconsider it.

Fareway also ranks among the top 10 employers in Iowa, with more than 13,000 employees across its seven states.

4. No Loyalty Card to Carry

Fareway doesn’t ask you to carry the plastic loyalty card many grocery chains hand out.

Fareway runs its digital coupons and cash back through the Ibotta app instead, tied to your phone number rather than a card in your wallet.

Give the cashier your number at checkout, and the cash back lands in your account within 48 hours.

No card required.

5. Sunday Ad Switch

Fareway’s posted weekly ads run Sunday through Saturday, week after week.

Every Fareway store closes on Sundays, by policy, not by accident.

So the doors stay locked on day one of every new ad.

The earliest anyone can act on the new prices is Monday morning, when the Iowa City store, for one, reopens at 8 a.m.

Show up Sunday hoping to catch the new deals, and the doors are locked.

No exceptions.

Saturday is the last day to shop the old ad.

6. Human Behind Your Pickup Order

Fareway has a staff member shop every online pickup order in person.

A human, not an algorithm, hand-picks everything in your cart.

Fareway says those employees know how to select the freshest produce and the highest-quality meats.

That employee also decides what happens when something’s out of stock, unless you say otherwise first.

Fareway’s cart puts a Backup link under each item, where a box called Personal Shopper’s Choice comes checked by default.

Uncheck it, and the shopper won’t pick a replacement for that item.

Orders need a $30 minimum.

Fareway can have an order ready for pickup in as little as three hours, Monday through Saturday.

The same online order won’t take the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), even though the store does.

Fareway gift cards don’t work there either.

Read that toggle before your first order, or the choice gets made for you.

7. Fast Lane, Not Self-Checkout

Fareway calls its newer scan-it-yourself lanes a Fast Lane, not self-checkout.

A staffer still works the area, ready to step in.

When Fareway's Anamosa store added the lanes in 2023, its manager said the change came without cutting any positions.

The store added hours to the schedule instead, so someone is always posted at the Fast Lane.

Local papers covered the lanes arriving store by store, from Sioux Center in the northwest to Anamosa in the east.