WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Hy-Vee, Inc.said  it will start hosting quarterly “Best of Local Brands” summits in 2021 to expand and enhance the product offerings at its more than 275 retail stores in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

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

The summits will be organized by the eight states Hy-Vee operates in and will consist of 15- to 30-minute virtual presentations from selected suppliers. Summit dates are: Feb. 10-12, May 11-13, Aug. 4-6, and Nov. 3-5.

“An increasing number of Hy-Vee customers would like to be able to purchase from local vendors during their grocery shopping process – whether in store or via our Aisles Online grocery pickup and delivery service,” said Darren Baty, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for Hy-Vee. “Supporting small, local businesses is important to us, and these quarterly summits will enable vendors in our eight-state region to present their products directly to our purchasing team, and – in return – will ensure our team is aware of all of the incredible, locally-made products that we can share with our customers.”

ECRM and RangeMe are helping Hy-Vee source, qualify and connect suppliers with the appropriate buyers. All sourcing and product submissions will be made through RangeMe, the industry standard 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 industry leading virtual meeting platform, ECRM Connect, plus, ECRM’s dedicated support team will help ensure that buyer and seller connections are executed seamlessly. 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.