Ranked as one of America’s top three favorite grocery stores, Hy-Vee can be found across eight Midwestern states: Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. In 2016, the store launched a private label, Gustare Vita, in partnership with the Italian Trade Agency, requiring all products under the label to be made in Italy. Gustare Vita is popular among Hy-Vee’s customers. Just look at the numbers. Year-over-year sales growth from 2022 to 2023: Hy-Vee grew sales of authentic Italian goods by over $9 million. The company operates more than 285 stores with sales of more than $13 billion annually.
Distribution centers are located in Chariton and Cherokee, Iowa, with a third perishable operation in Ankeny, Iowa, and the corporate office is in West Des Moines, Iowa. JD Campbell, Category Manager for sports nutrition and specialty products at Hy-Vee, spoke with Italianfood.net about the partnership and the success of Gustare Vita.
JD Campbell
Category Manager for sports nutrition and specialty products
Hy-Vee
“Our Italian manufacturer for our pasta sauces is very small, very niche, and uses super clean ingredients. Instead, we’ve had a long relationship with our olive oil manufacturer for almost 30 years”
How did Gustare Vita get started?
In the year 2016, we created our own house brand of authentic Italian items. The brand is called Gustare Vita. It started out just being core staples like olive oils, sauces, and pastas. It’s really evolved since then. We’ve got so many different categories covered, such as frozen condiments. Right now, the label carries over 125 SKUs, and it is doing extremely well. The guardrail of the program is that everything has to be made in Italy and imported from Italy for this label. The top-performing products out of the 125 SKUs are pasta sauces and extra virgin olive oil. Our Italian manufacturer for our pasta sauces is very small, very niche, and uses super clean ingredients. Instead, we’ve had a long relationship with our olive oil manufacturer for almost 30 years.
Can you tell us more on the promotional campaigns for Gustare Vita?
Hy-Vee holds two big promotions a year, traditionally in February and September. The promotional campaigns typically last one month, offering customers the chance to win great prizes.
In September 2023, Hy-Vee gave away a bunch of Vespas. Other promotions in the past include a chance to win a private chef to come to your house for an authentic Italian meal for eight people, trips to Italy with cash, and a bunch of free products.
What do customers think of Hy-Vee’s partnership with the Italian Trade Agency?
Hy-Vee has seen an increase year over year in sales. When we first started the program, what we did was put in all these authentic Italian items and then discontinued some other name brands. We really compared numbers, and over a period of time, the consumers always traded up to the premium.
Customers during the pandemic treated themselves to more gourmet, more premium items, and that’s when they came to the brand. As a result, that’s when the store saw exponential sales growth. Hy-Vee also carries other authentic Italian food products across different categories. For example, in the deli category, Hy-Vee sells Parmigiano Reggiano, and that does really well.