Member dairies take top honors at QCS annual conference.

Key dairy and supply community services and training highlighted the 2007 QCS Leadership Conference for members of its co-sponsors — Naperville, Ill.-based Quality Chekd Dairies Inc., a member-owned cooperative of independent dairy processors, and DeLand, Fla.-based SECO & Golden “100” Inc., a member-owned purchasing cooperative.

The annual conference, held in April at the Denver Marriott Tech Center in Denver, combined the individual spring and summer meetings formerly hosted by Quality Chekd and SECO/Golden 100. Attendees explored innovative ways to better their companies’ performance, discussed purchasing opportunities and participated in training workshops, the annual supplier trade show and product judging, as well as annual awards and recognition, including the coveted Quality Chekd Irving B. Weber, Wayne Gingrich and Harlie F. Zimmerman awards. The conference’s awards program annually underscores the commitment of Quality Chekd Dairies and its membership to continued excellence and quality in products, manufacturing and promotion.

This year, the prestigious Irving B. Weber Distinguished Award for Quality Excellence, named for Quality Chekd’s first board, again went to Umpqua Dairy Products Co., Roseburg, Ore. As recipient of the award, for the second year in a row, Umpqua Dairy accumulated the highest annual scores for leadership, customer satisfaction, production quality, marketing communications, staff development and overall business ethics. In recognition of this achievement, Umpqua re­ceived a trophy and a check for $25,000.

The winner of this year’s Wayne Gingrich Award for Production was Hiland Dairy, Fort Smith, Ark., in recognition of its status as the best single production plant within the Quality Chekd membership.

The Harlie F. Zimmerman Award went to Hiland Dairy Foods Co., Springfield, Mo., for marketing excellence and best communication of brand essence. The award honored Hiland for its clearly defined marketing objectives and strategies, measurable actions and execution of results.

For more conference highlights, visit www.qchekd.com