The QCS Purchasing Awards program recognizes its members and supply partners who go above and beyond their peers in a variety of categories. Recipients gain prestige within the organization, the food and beverage industry, and their service areas. QCS awards highlight achievements in member & supply partner collaboration, product quality & food safety excellence, QCS supply partner program marketing to members, member & supply partner leadership and QCS Community Value Commitment (QCS Value Creator Award).
BEST COLLABORATION AWARD – NOW ACCEPTING ENTRIES FOR 2025! Enter Now!
Working together to drive innovation, boost growth, and elevate your competitive edge.
The QCS Best Collaboration Award honors initiatives that deliver excellence through the joint efforts of a member and supply partner working together to solve a problem either or achieve the desired outcome. All entries were jointly submitted by the member and supply partner who took part in the collaboration. These awards are judged on merit by an independent panel of marketing experts. The top 3 finalists and the award winner will announced at the QCS 2025 Annual Conference in Boston in October, 2025. View the 2025 Collaboration brochure for details. (deadline to enter is July 21, 2025.)
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
The QCS Collaboration Award is open to current members and supply partners of QCS
Purchasing Cooperative. All entries must be jointly submitted by the member and supply partner
who took part in the collaboration, and both parties must agree to the award submission.
The award is open to any work launched between July 25, 2024 and July 20, 2025.
QCS SUPPLY PARTNER PROGRAM MARKETING AWARD – NOW ACCEPTING ENTRIES FOR 2025! Enter Now!
Supply Partners showcasing solutions, products, and value-added services to the QCS Membership.
QCS Supply Partner Program Promotion Award will honor QCS supply partner organizations’ creative QCS member-based marketing campaigns that communicate the provided value, benefits, and advantages to QCS members. This is a great way for QCS supply partners to promote their program’s solutions, products, and value-added services to the QCS membership. These awards were judged on merit by an independent panel of marketing experts. The top 3 finalists and the award winner will announced at the QCS 2025 Annual Conference in Boston in October 2025. View the 2025 Supply Partner Marketing Award brochure for details. (deadline to enter is July 21, 2025.)
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
The QCS Supply Partner Program Promotion Award is open to in-house, agency and independent
communication professionals that are supply partners of QCS Purchasing Cooperative.
You may enter your work, the work of your organization or work you have completed on behalf
of your customer.
The award is open to any work launched between July 25, 2024 and July 20, 2025.
QCS LEADERSHIP AWARD WINNERS
QCS Member and Supply Partner Companies who have done the most to support the vision of QCS Purchasing Cooperative.
QCS Leadership Awards recognize those member companies and supply partners that have been the most engaged and made significant contributions to the QCS community.
For the MEMBER Leadership Award, contributions are measured by the growth of total purchases through QCS programs and growth in the number of programs they participate in.
For the SUPPLY PARTNER Leadership Award, contributions are measured by the QCS Program Scorecard, which includes, among other criteria, volume growth, member participation, innovation, quality, and service.
__________________________________________________
View the 2024 award recipients HERE
QCS VALUE CREATOR AWARD
An Individual who made outstanding contributions to the greater good of the Cooperative.
QCS introduced the Value Creator Award in 2023. This award was created to recognize individuals in the QCS Purchasing Cooperative community that have helped to make the cooperative better. Some have helped us introduce new programs, others have helped us identify ways to do things better, they have advocated for QCS in other industry groups/associations and several have brought new members to the community. What they all have in common is they have taken purposefully actions to help QCS be better.
__________________________________________________
View the 2024 award recipients HERE
The Irving B. Weber Award for Total Quality Excellence is our highest honor for plants participating in the QCS Dairy Quality Excellence Program and the finalist pool is comprised of plants that have won a Dairy Quality Excellence Award. The Irving B. Weber Award recognizes the top-performing plant for superior product quality, as determined by scoring in the quality testing program, operational excellence as indicated by Global Food Safety Initiative audit standards, and outstanding employee safety practices. This plant stands out as having reached the goals to which all exceptional businesses aspire.
The Winner of the 2024 Irving B. Weber Award for Quality Excellence is:
–Umpqua Dairy Products Company, Roseburg, Oregon
The 2024 award season saw Umpqua Dairy deliver an unparalleled performance, winning in every category they entered: Fluid Milk, Cultured Products, and Ice Cream. Such an accomplishment is unprecedented in the history of the Dairy Quality Excellence Awards, with no records showing similar success since the 1980s. View complete Press Release here.
The winners of the 2024 Dairy Quality Excellence awards have shown an exceptional ability to navigate obstacles while maintaining superior product quality in the categories of Fluid Milk, Extended Shelf Life (ESL) and Aseptic Milk, Cultured Products, and Ice Cream. QCS Dairy Quality Excellence Awards recognize the top-quality performers in the QCS Purchasing Cooperative’s Quality & Food Safety Program and are based on scores achieved in monthly product testing.
QCS Purchasing Cooperative, a member-owned buying group for food and beverage companies, has named the winners for the Dairy Quality Excellence Awards in the categories of Fluid Milk, Extended Shelf Life (ESL) and Aseptic Milk, Cultured Products, and Ice Cream.
Meijer Dairy from Tipp City, Ohio, has secured the Dairy Quality Excellence Award in the ESL & Aseptic Milk Product Category. (view press release).
QCS Purchasing Cooperative announced that Umpqua Dairy, a Shehadey Family Foods Brand, has achieved an unprecedented sweep in the 2024 QCS Dairy Quality Excellence (DQE) Program. Umpqua Dairy, located in Roseburg, Oregon, excelled in all three categories—Fluid Milk, Cultured Products, and Ice Cream—marking a first in recent history for QCS programs. (view press release).
The Merit of Excellence Award is presented in the following categories: fluid milk, ice cream, and cultured products. Because our Merit of Excellence Award compliance levels is well above industry standards, this creates a significant but rewarding challenge. Open to members enrolled in the QCS Q&FS program. QCS recently announced the winners for the Merit of Excellence Awards. View the press release here.
The QCS Quality & Food Safety Plant Assessment Awards are granted to participants that achieve a formal Quality and Food Safety Audit score of 96% or higher. These annual assessments are quite rigorous – some may say ‘brutal’ – and are conducted by an accredited, approved third-party food safety auditing firm. Plants receiving this award have demonstrated a level of organizational excellence and quality assurance that is not only commendable but also assures that QCS Members represent the highest standards in the industry. Open to members enrolled in the QCS Q&FS program. QCS recently announced the winners for the 2024 Plant Assessment Awards. View the press release here for the complete list of winners.
This annual contest takes place during the height of Egg Nog season in December. The evaluations were based on consumer preference and conducted by a diverse panel of individuals including the staff of Mérieux NutriSciences Lab. Scores were based on body, appearance, and flavor. The award is open to all QCS members.
2024 Egg Nog Winners – A Landmark Year for the Contest
This year marked a milestone with the first-ever plant-based nog category, highlighting the evolving landscape of the food and beverage industry. HP Hood’s Oat Nog impressed judges with its creamy texture and rich, festive flavor, setting the bar high for future plant-based entries.
Producers Dairy Foods, Inc., and Royal Crest Dairy continued the tradition of excellence with their standout regular and lite eggnogs. Judges praised the balance of flavor, noting creamy, custard-like textures and the perfect hint of nutmeg.
• Producers Dairy Foods Inc., a Shehadey Family Foods company – Fresno, CA – Winner for Regular Egg Nog
• Royal Crest Dairy, Inc. – Denver, CO – Winner for Lite Egg Nog
• HP Hood LLC – Oneida, NY, for their Oat Nog – Winner for Plant-Based Egg Nog
View 2024 Egg Nog Winners Press Release
QCS Purchasing Cooperative
901 Warrenville Road, Lisle, IL 60532
630-717-1110
Copyright 2025 QCS Purchasing Cooperative All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy