WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Hy-Vee announced that it will host its next quarterly Best of Local Brands Summit in March to expand and enhance the product offerings at its more than 285 retail stores in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Since the Best of Local Brands summits began in early 2021, more than 125 new brands have been selected and are available to Hy-Vee customers.

This year, Hy-Vee continues 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 summit will consist of 15- to 30-minute virtual presentations from selected suppliers and will take place Wednesday, March 1.

Hy-Vee will accept submissions for its Best of Local Brands Summit online starting Monday, Jan. 9 at www.rangeme.com/hyveebestoflocal23q1 in the following categories of retail-ready products: grocery, produce, deli, general merchandise, frozen, dairy, and health and beauty care. Submission deadline is Monday, Jan. 23.

ECRM and RangeMe are helping Hy-Vee source, qualify and connect with suppliers. All product submissions will be made through RangeMe, an online product discovery and sourcing platform. All meetings will be conducted through ECRM’s virtual meeting platform, ECRM Connect. Suppliers not chosen for participation in this summit will still be accessible through RangeMe and may be reviewed by Hy-Vee again in the future.