QCS conference flags AI, packaging volatility and natural colors as 2027 priorities

Food and beverage manufacturers are heading into 2027 with three major pressures in focus: practical AI adoption, volatile packaging costs and a faster shift toward natural colors. Those themes surfaced at QCS Purchasing Cooperative’s annual conference in Plano, Texas, where members and suppliers discussed ways to cut risk and improve operations.

Why it matters: - Food and beverage manufacturers are facing a mix of technology, sourcing and formulation challenges that will affect costs, operations and product development in 2027. - The conference highlighted practical steps companies can take now, including tighter supplier management, cost benchmarking and reformulation planning. - QCS framed the event as a way for members to share expertise and use collective buying power to handle shared market pressures.

What happened: - QCS Purchasing Cooperative held its annual conference Oct. 18-20 in Plano, Texas. - The event brought together QCS members and supply partners for sessions on artificial intelligence, food and beverage trends, packaging, operations, food safety and customer experience. - QCS President and CEO Ken Klug said the discussions reflected the cooperative’s focus on helping members learn from each other, tap industry expertise and find practical solutions. - Keynote speaker Dan Chuparkoff urged attendees to use AI for routine work so people can spend more time on judgment, problem-solving and innovation. - A follow-up panel showed that some companies are already applying AI in daily business functions.

The details: - Vardhaman Bawari of HP Hood described using AI inside existing software for meeting notes and contract management. - Sean Martyn of ORO Labs said AI can help procurement teams review supplier contracts for tariff exposure, estimate cost impacts and identify alternate sources of supply. - Klug said the AI panel showed how leaders inside the cooperative are already using the technology in their businesses. - Panelists said broader AI adoption still requires data security, guardrails and human judgment. - Brett Rosenbloom of Multi-Flow Industries said the move toward natural colors is one of the biggest formulation shifts his company is preparing for in 2027. - Rosenbloom said natural colors are where the industry is heading and that the change is not easy to execute. - QCS category leaders reported continued pricing volatility in printed packaging, films, paper-based packaging and corrugated materials. - The pricing pressure is being driven in part by industry consolidation, including mill closures and longer downtime in the pulp and paper sector. - Category leaders advised manufacturers to benchmark current packaging costs, cut unnecessary materials and qualify additional suppliers to reduce cost and supply risk. - Leslie Williams, a QCS category leader, said packaging prices are likely to remain volatile heading into 2027 and urged manufacturers to review packaging now. - Packaging reviews can also uncover opportunities to reduce material use, improve specifications and rethink supplier strategies as market conditions change. - Klug said the conference reinforced the value of combining category expertise with the cooperative’s relationships and shared resources.

Between the lines: - The AI discussion suggests the near-term value of the technology is less about hype and more about automating repetitive work and improving procurement decisions. - The packaging discussion points to a market where companies may have limited control over input costs, making specification changes and supplier diversification especially important. - The natural colors shift shows how consumer and market expectations can create downstream complexity for product development and sourcing teams.

What’s next: - QCS members are likely to use the conference takeaways to review packaging spend, stress-test supplier coverage and plan for reformulation work ahead of 2027. - Companies exploring AI will need to balance efficiency gains with security controls and human oversight. - QCS said the conference’s broader goal was to help members and suppliers exchange ideas and build solutions for shared business challenges.

The bottom line: - Food and beverage companies are entering 2027 with three clear priorities: practical AI adoption, packaging cost control and preparation for natural color reformulation. - QCS is positioning its cooperative model as a way to help members respond faster to all three.