9 Hy-Vee Secrets Employees Wish Iowans Knew

You can probably find the peanut butter at your Hy-Vee with your eyes closed.

Even so, Iowans who shop there every week may walk right past a few free extras, from the pharmacy to the kids’ treats.

Here’s what Hy-Vee employees wish more shoppers knew.

Note: This is general information, not medical advice. Hy-Vee’s services and prices are subject to change, so talk to a doctor or pharmacist about your situation.

1. Store Director Votes

Hy-Vee runs store by store.

Its stores have operated autonomously since the company’s founding, choosing their inventories and setting their prices.

Store directors, as managers are now called, meet with executive staff at the corporate office in West Des Moines.

They hear presentations, share news and vote on corporate policies.

Prices, promotions and availability may vary by store, so your total may differ from store to store.

2. Talking Prescription Labels

If small print gives you trouble, Hy-Vee says its talking prescription labels are free at all of its pharmacy locations for patients who are visually or print-impaired.

Hy-Vee pharmacists can program a small electronic tag onto the package, typically on the bottom of the bottle.

Patients scan the tag with a ScripTalk reader or the free ScripTalk mobile app to hear the drug name, dosage, instructions and warnings read aloud.

The reader costs nothing.

ScripTalk can assist patients with low vision, blindness, dyslexia or other reading disabilities.

On request, the talking labels can be translated into 25 other languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese, Somali and Swahili.

To enroll, contact your local pharmacy.

3. Free Kids Club Treats

The free Hy-Vee Kids Club lists eight treats for kids, from a cookie at the bakery to a sticker at the pharmacy.

Even the pharmacy joins in.

Others include a slice of cheese at the deli and a coloring page in the meat department.

Kids in the program can receive a free surprise in each department every time you shop, though availability may vary by store.

Members also get a personalized name tag and a birthday coupon for bakery-fresh cupcakes, and you can sign up at the Customer Service counter.

Hy-Vee lists a Trick or Treat event for Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and says to check with your local Hy-Vee for its schedule of events.

4. Employee Owners

Hy-Vee calls itself employee-owned, and its corporate site explains who owns the company behind your local store.

Direct stockholders are officers, district store directors and executive staff members.

Indirect stockholders are the more than 40,000 employees who take part in the company’s 401(k) plan.

Both groups count as owners.

A portion of the company’s 401(k) matching contributions goes to the Hy-Vee Stock Fund, which Hy-Vee says is technically the largest shareholder in the company.

Hyde and Vredenburg decided in 1933 to pay store managers on a profit-sharing basis.

Employee bonuses followed in 1936 and endure to this day, the history page says.

5. Reserve Beef Labels

Many Hy-Vee stores sell beef under three Reserve labels: Prime, Choice and Angus.

Marbling, the thin white streaks of fat in a cut, is the main difference from one Reserve level to the next.

Prime Reserve is limited to beef graded Prime by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Choice Reserve uses only a select portion of USDA Choice, which has slightly less marbling than Prime Reserve.

If your grocery budget is tight, Angus Reserve is a leaner beef and the most budget-friendly of the three.

Hy-Vee says its beef comes from Midwest family farms that raise corn-fed cattle, a diet it credits with better marbling and more flavor, juiciness and tenderness.

6. Pet Prescriptions

Hy-Vee Pharmacy fills pet prescriptions.

Bring in your vet's prescription, and Hy-Vee says hundreds of generic and brand-name pet medications are available.

Examples include Heartgard and Revolution for heartworm and Frontline for fleas and ticks.

Rimadyl appears under NSAIDs, a class of anti-inflammatory drugs.

Pet-friendly flavors like tuna or beef, prescription delivery and a pharmacy drive-thru are marked where available.

There's also a Repeat Refill program for filling a prescription automatically.

In the Hy-Vee app, you can track a prescription's status and get a call, text or email when it's ready.

7. Homegrown Produce Logos

Hy-Vee says the Homegrown logo means your produce was grown locally by Midwest farmers, and that it works with hundreds of local farms to source produce grown within 200 miles of your store.

Its Grower Finder map shows which local growers supply your store.

The map doesn't show every vendor Hy-Vee carries.

Featured growers include Ineichen's Tomatoes, based in Blue Grass, Iowa, and Milan, Illinois.

The company's local buying started in the 1930s with cofounder David Vredenburg.

He drove his black Ford pickup from farm to farm, buying tomatoes, potatoes, apples and other produce for customers.

8. Medication Take-Back Boxes

If expired pills are sitting in your cabinet, Hy-Vee says all of its pharmacy locations have drug take-back receptacles.

The receptacles take controlled substances, prescriptions and over-the-counter medications.

Pet medications count, too.

Patient privacy will be protected and the medications properly destroyed.

9. FoodHealth Scores

Hy-Vee shows a FoodHealth Score from 1 to 100 on grocery products when you shop online or in the Hy-Vee app.

Higher is better.

FoodHealth Company sets the score from a product's ingredient quality and nutrient density, which weighs nutrients such as fiber and protein against calories.

Hy-Vee says the score is based on the Mediterranean diet.