June 23, 2026 | News & Press Releases
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (June 23, 2026) — Hy-Vee, Inc. announced today that it will host this year’s Hy-Vee Opportunity Supplier Impact Summit on September 9 and 10, 2026, at Hy-Vee corporate headquarters in West Des Moines, Iowa.
The Opportunity Supplier Impact Summit provides small businesses and entrepreneurs with valuable resources and gives them a chance to pitch their products directly to Hy-Vee category managers.
Hy-Vee will accept submissions for small businesses to attend the summit online at https://www.rangeme.com/opportunitysupplierimpact. Entrants must offer retail products in one of the following categories: grocery, produce, deli, general merchandise, frozen, dairy, beauty, or health and wellness. Hy-Vee will select 80 small businesses from all applications to attend the summit in person. The deadline for all submissions is 11:59 p.m. PDT on July 13, 2026.
Over the course of the two-day event, the Opportunity Supplier Impact Summit will offer comprehensive insights about doing business with Hy-Vee, along with industry-specific educational sessions and opportunities for networking with key Hy-Vee leaders across various sectors, including procurement and retail store management.
Attendees will gain insight into Hy-Vee's supplier operations, receive strategic guidance for growth, as well as access critical tools for successful scaling that may include on-the-spot contract purchases.
Live Pitch Competition for Emerging Suppliers
A live pitch competition will be featured on the first day of the event, open to all small businesses across the country that are in the early stages of building their operations. From all applications, three businesses will be chosen to participate in the live pitch competition. Hy-Vee is providing a $30,000 prize pool to the three pitch participants.
Category Manager Meetings & Expo
All selected attending businesses will meet one-on-one with retail and supply chain leaders to pitch their products and explore opportunities for potential partnerships with on-the-spot item approval and increased visibility within the Hy-Vee market. Select suppliers will be able to participate in a supplier expo demoing products with key Hy-Vee decision-makers. A resource roundtable will also be made available to all attendees that includes discussions with Hy-Vee leaders on topics from distribution and food safety to finance, merchandising and marketing.
For decades, Hy-Vee has embraced small businesses by growing relationships with new suppliers and providing the opportunity for these brands to expand. To see a selection of products from past summit attendees now on Hy-Vee shelves, visit https://www.hy-vee.com/discover/ideas-and-how-tos/support-local-at-hy-vee.
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Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating more than 560 business units across nine Midwestern states with sales of more than $14 billion annually. The supermarket chain is synonymous with quality, variety, convenience, healthy lifestyles, culinary expertise and superior customer service. Hy-Vee was recently named one of the top grocery stores in America by USA TODAY. The company’s more than 70,000 employees provide “A Helpful Smile in Every Aisle” to customers every day. For additional information, visit www.hy-vee.com.