Hiland Dairy Foods Co., Springfield, Mo.; Umpqua Dairy Products Co., Roseburg, Ore.; and Galliker Dairy Co., Johnstown, Pa., took the top Quality Chekd honors in dairy excellence, plant performance and marketing, respectively, at the 2013 QCS Leadership Conference held last month in New Orleans. Members and suppliers of QCS Purchasing partners, Quality Chekd Dairies, SECO and Allied Purchasing attended this year’s conference.

“Our membership, as a whole, strives to achieve and maintain only the highest quality standards in every aspect of their operation,” said Peter Horvath, president of QCS Purchasing, Quality Chekd Dairies and SECO. “This annual leadership conference not only honors those members who distinguish themselves in key areas of importance, but also allows every attendee the chance to collect new ideas which they can then take home and integrate into the various segments of their daily operation.”

Hiland Dairy Foods Co. receives the Irving B. Weber Distinguished Award for Quality Excellence

Quality Chekd honored the Hiland Dairy Foods Co. with the Irving B. Weber Distinguished Award for Quality Excellence with a trophy and a $25,000 check. Hiland Dairy achieved the highest combined annual score of all Quality Chekd members in the categories of leadership, customer satisfaction, production quality, marketing communications, staff development and business ethics.

Named for Quality Chekd’s first board president, the Weber Award is modeled after the esteemed Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Dairies competing for this award undergo an extensive, 12-month process involving on-site assessments, monthly finished product testing, a quality compliance evaluation and leadership questionnaires.

Finalists for the Weber Award were Hiland-Roberts Ice Cream and Umpqua Dairy Products in recognition of their company-wide commitments to improving overall business practices.

Umpqua Dairy Products Co honored with Quality Chekd Production Excellence Award

The 2013 Production Excellence Award, honoring the best single production plant within the Quality Chekd membership, was awarded to the Umpqua. This member plant was judged to have produced the highest quality product, received exemplary scores during site evaluations and achieved manufacturing excellence surpassing all other Quality Chekd member facilities. In recognition of its commitment to production excellence the Umpqua Dairy accepted a choice of a grandfather clock or $2,500 scholarship for their dairy.
Finalists were Hiland Dairy Foods Co., Norman, Okla.; Hiland-Roberts Ice Cream Co., Norfolk, Neb.; and Sunshine Dairy Foods East, Portland, Ore. Each finalist received a trophy in recognition of their accomplishments.
Additionally, the Plant Assessment Excellence Award was presented to 30 member plants each of which achieved a total score of 95 percent or higher in the annual plant audit. Recipients received a wall clock and plate depicting the year in honor of their achievement. During the annual conference additional Merit of Excellence Awards were presented to Quality Chekd members for distinction in the areas of production and marketing.

Galliker Dairy Co. is honored for outstanding marketing

The 2013 Outstanding Marketing Achievement Award for superior marketing achievement and top communication of its brand was presented to Galliker Dairy Co. of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. This award is a tribute to Galliker’s well-defined and highly-focused marketing objectives and strategies, targeted execution of programs and quantifiable results. For its efforts, the company was honored with its choice of a grandfather clock or $2,500 scholarship for their dairy. Finalists were Alqueria Dairy (Cajica, Colombia) and Umpqua.

To recognize member commitment and highlight the achievements made throughout the year, QCS Purchasing presented the QCS Participation Award to two members during the conference: Guida’s Dairy of New Britain, Conn., and United Dairymen of Arizona from Tempe, Ariz. This award illustrates the spirit and value of member participation, and pays tribute to those members who made the largest year-to-year increase in dollar participation in all QCS programs.