Edwardsville, Illinois-based Prairie Farms Dairy and its joint venture partner, Hiland Dairy, won more than 40 awards at the QCS Purchasing Cooperative Annual Leadership Conference in San Diego.
In October, QCS members from around the country gathered for educational sessions, networking events and an awards celebration to honor member and supply partner companies.
The Prairie Farms plant in Dubuque, Iowa, won the QCS Dairy Quality Excellence Fluid Milk Award. The plant was also instrumental in working with The Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream Company on a joint effort for a new cream program. QCS recognized this partnership with the Best Collaboration Award.
“I am so proud of our quality and management teams for receiving over 40 awards at this year’s conference. They work tirelessly to prioritize quality in our operations, and because of their dedication and commitment, the Prairie Farms’ network of plants earned more awards than any company,” said Matt McClelland, CEO and EVP for Prairie Farms.
“As a farmer-owned cooperative, the high-quality milk provided by our dairy farmers is the key component of our ability to be a leader in the industry. Despite many post-pandemic challenges for our farms and plants, together, our farmers and team members remained focused on quality, and QCS recognized their hard work with dozens of awards.”
The Merit of Excellence Awards are presented in the fluid milk, cultured products and ice cream categories. Because QCS compliance levels are well above industry standards, this creates a challenge for the award recipients. Thirteen plants within the Prairie Farms’ network of companies were winners.
- Fluid milk:
- Prairie Farms Dairy: Dubuque, Iowa; Olney, Illinois.
- Hiland Dairy: Fort Smith and Little Rock, Arkansas; Kansas City and Springfield, Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska.
- Cultured:
- Prairie Farms Dairy: Quincy, Illinois.
- Hiland Dairy: Norman, Oklahoma; Wichita, Kansas.
- Ice cream:
- Hiland Dairy: Kansas City (Belfonte) and Springfield, Missouri; Tyler, Texas.
- Hiland Dairy’s Wichita plant received the Best Regular Egg Nog award and the Little Rock plant won the Orange Juice Product Contest.
Twenty-six plants within the Prairie Farms’ network received QCS Quality & Food Safety Plant Assessment Awards. The complete list is available here.
