DES MOINES, Iowa — Hy-Vee is introducing an automated cart cleaning system that they say fully cleans and sanitizes shopping carts after every use.
The grocery chain says that by mid-November, more than 200 Hy-Vee stores across its eight-state region will have a sterile cart system in operation. Hy-Vee claims to be the first grocery chain to implement a fully automated sanitization system across its company.
"This innovative system cleans several carts quickly and consistently, eliminating the need for store employees to manually clean each cart throughout the day. Additionally, it cleans and sanitizes the entire cart and not just the handles and high-touch areas."- Randy Edeker, chairman, CEO, and president of Hy-Vee, Inc.
Sterile Cart is made by Minnesota-based IZZA Manufacturing and distributed by Ultra Green Packaging. Kristin Davidson of Ultra Green said the system was conceived and designed specifically to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
“The Sterile Cart system uses a hospital-grade disinfectant that is proven to kill 99.9% of germs and viruses that cause illnesses, including coronavirus,” said Davidson. “The system ships fully assembled, takes up minimal space and sanitizes 1-2 carts per second. The Sterile Cart system provides peace of mind knowing that the carts are cleaned after every use.”
The Sterile Cart system uses a low-pressure spray system and a dry-in-place disinfectant. This new system eliminates the need to manually clean each cart.