WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Hy-Vee Inc. will host its third quarterly “Best of Local Brands” summit in September, the retailer said on Monday.

The virtual event is intended to allow the regional grocery chain to discover new local brands that can expand and enhance the product offerings at its more than 280 retail stores in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The second quarterly summit was held in May where 28 new brands were selected. Those brands will become available to Hy-Vee customers in the coming months.

The September summit will be organized by the eight states Hy-Vee operates in and will consist of 15- to 30-minute virtual presentations from selected suppliers. The summit will take place from Wednesday, September 8 to Friday, September 10.

Hy-Vee is currently accepting submissions for its “Best of Local Brands” summit online. Retail-ready products are being sought in the following categories: grocery, produce, deli, general merchandise, frozen, dairy, and health and beauty care.

Hy-Vee is working with ECRM and RangeMe, which are helping 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 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.