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Podcast: Hy-Vee CEO talks foodservice, fresh, and how health care is the future

The midwest retailer is our Supermarket News 2023 Retailer of the Year

Chloe Riley, Executive Editor

September 15, 2023

 

Bold is certainly one word to describe the strategy of the West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee over just the past five years. In that amount of time, the retailer has continued to ramp up its growing expansion in pharmacy and health care; rebranded its Hy-Vee Gas convenience concept to Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh; and continued to lead the market with its foodservice and prepared foods strategies.

Hy-Vee’s foray into health care and pharmacy over the past decade (and even just the past five years) has been extensive. In 2014, the retailer acquired Amber Pharmacy, one of the largest privately owned specialty pharmacies in the country and a driving force behind Hy-Vee’s national health care strategy. That acquisition allowed Hy-Vee to move forward with providing specialty pharmacy services in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. 

Perhaps the retailer’s most ambitious step into health care would be the launch of the first Hy-Vee Health infusion clinic, opened in April in West Des Moines. (A second opened in Chicago in August)

“We’re viewed as a food company, but our largest department is pharmacy,” said Jeremy Gosch, Hy-Vee CEO since 2022. “So health care plays a massive, massive role in Hy-Vee, and I think we’re just scratching the surface of what we’re going to be doing with health care moving forward.” 

Supermarket News Executive Editor Chloe Riley sat down with Gosch at Hy-Vee headquarters, and talked with him about foodservice at retail, the company’s continued branding around fresh, and how health care is the future.

Take a listen.

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About the Author

Chloe Riley

Executive Editor, Supermarket News

Chloe Riley is the Executive Editor of Supermarket News, which delivers the ultimate in competitive business intelligence, news and information for executives in the food retail and grocery industry. A graduate of the School of Journalism at Columbia College Chicago, Chloe previously served as a Digital Strategist at SEO firm Profound Strategy, Associate Editor at B2B hospitality mag HOTELS Magazine, as well as CEO of her own digital strategy company, Chlowe. She lives in Woodstock, Illinois. 

Email her at [email protected], or reach out on LinkedIn and say hi. 

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