Hy-Vee Sets 3rd ‘Best of Local Brands’ Summit for September

Hy-Vee’s goal of bringing more local products to its 280 retail stores while supporting small, local businesses continues this September with the third installation of its “Best of Local Brands” summit. During the West Des Moines, Iowa-based retailer’s second quarterly summit, held in May, 28 new brands were selected to become available to Hy-Vee customers in the coming months.

September’s summit, to be held Sept. 8-10, will be organized by the eight states Hy-Vee operates in— Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin—and consist of 15- to 30-minute virtual presentations from selected suppliers. Hy-Vee is now accepting submissions online in the following categories of retail-ready products: grocery, produce, deli, general merchandise, frozen, dairy, and health and beauty care.

All sourcing and product submissions will be made through RangeMe, an online product discovery and sourcing platform, and ECRM will qualify suppliers, create curated meeting schedules and facilitate face-to-face meeting execution with Hy-Vee buyers. All meetings will be conducted through ECRM’s virtual meeting platform, ECRM Connect. Suppliers not chosen will still be accessible through RangeMe and may be reviewed by Hy-Vee merchants again in the future as business needs change.