Hy-Vee ‘Best of Local Brands’ Summit Set for February

Looking to bring more local products to its customers, West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee will host its fifth “Best of Local Brands” summit in February to expand and enhance the offerings at its more than than 280 retail stores in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The summit will consist of 15- to 30-minute virtual presentations from selected suppliers. Summit dates are Feb. 16-18.  

Hy-Vee is currently accepting submissions for its “Best of Local Brands” summit online at www.rangeme.com/hyveebestoflocal22q1 in the following categories of retail ready products: grocery, produce, deli, general merchandise, frozen, dairy and health and beauty care. 

“Hy-Vee will continue to elevate its efforts of identifying suppliers with diverse backgrounds and encourages minority-owned and women-owned businesses to apply for the quarterly summits,” the company said in a statement. “One hundred new brands were selected from the first three summits combined and are available to Hy-Vee customers.”

ECRM and RangeMe will help Hy-Vee source, qualify and connect suppliers with the appropriate buyers. 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 to introduce new and innovative products into the marketplace.

All meetings will be conducted through ECRM’s virtual meeting platform, ECRM Connect, and ECRM’s support team will help ensure that buyer and seller connections are executed seamlessly.

Suppliers not chosen for participation in this summit will still be accessible through RangeMe and may be reviewed by Hy-Vee merchants again in the future.