QCS Purchasing LLC is a food industry procurement organization serving over 500 locations within its community. The company is owned by three partners: SECO (South East Cooperative Organization), Lisle, Ill.; Quality Chekd Dairies, Lisle, Ill.; and Allied Purchasing, Mason City, Iowa. Each has been in business dating back to the early 1940s. Since the incorporation of QCS in early 2005, annualized purchasing volumes have more than doubled, which can be attributed to the company’s ability to create value by leveraging the buying scale of its membership.
To better understand why its members so strongly support QCS, one needs to look at two fundamental principles that drive its business model. The group’s first priority is to deliver the absolute highest level of return to its members with regard to pricing and value, and to continue to operate as the “low-cost provider” in its chosen market segment. One important thing to note is that QCS is a not-for-profit organization whereby all profit (after expenses) is returned to its owners in the form of discounts, rebates and patronage.