Request for Information (RFI) for Fresh Fruit & Vegetable support for DLA Troop Support's DoD and Non-DoD customers located in North Florida
Dear Valued Suppliers:
This is a Request for Information (“RFI”). DLA Troop Support’s (“Agency”) Subsistence Produce Program is interested in comments and feedback regarding the Agency’s full line produce support to Department of Defense (“DoD;” Troop) and United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA;” Schools) Customers throughout the Continental United States (“CONUS”). There is no solicitation available at this time. The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this RFI, nor will the Government compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing the information provided to the Government. This RFI does not constitute a commitment from the Government and any information provided in response to this market survey will be used for informational purposes only and will not be released. Any proprietary information submitted will be protected if appropriately marked. Please note that by responding to the instant Agency request, a potential offeror is not promised any future business with the Government. The sole purpose of this RFI is to conduct market research to assist the Agency in creating an appropriate solicitation in the future.
Background: The Agency intends to issue a solicitation and ultimately enter into indefinite quantity contract(s) (“IQC”) with a commercial firm(s) to supply a full-line of United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) Grade Number 1 or better quality fresh fruits and vegetables (“FF&V”) and Shell Eggs (if required by the customers) to Department of Defense (Troop) and USDA (Schools) customers in the North Florida Zone. Specific quality requirements per item are included in the Schedule of Items (Attachment 1). When proposing in response to a solicitation, failure to propose the specified quality requirement per item as identified in Attachment 1 may render an offeror’s proposal technically unacceptable. If the item’s description in Attachment 1 does not provide a specific quality grade, the minimum quality grade that is required to meet the terms of this Solicitation is USDA Grade Number 1.
In the solicitation that is contemplated, the aforementioned zone will be comprised of four (4) Groups in the area described above. Group 1 will consist of DoD/Troop customers in North Florida (bases), Group 2 will consist of USDA School customers in North Florida, Group 3 will consist of DoD GTMO Barge customers, and Group 4 will consist of DoD GTMO Warehouse customers. After soliciting, the Agency intends to make one award per Group. Offerors may submit a proposal for any Group or all Groups. Offerors are required to propose on all items in the Schedule of Items for each Group on which it offers. Failure to do so may result in a proposal being deemed technically unacceptable and therefore excluded from further consideration for award. Because the Contracting Officer is not obligated to initiate negotiations, when proposing to the solicitation each offeror shall submit its most competitive proposal for each Group it has chosen to propose on. Said proposal shall be responsive to all of the Solicitation’s requirements and free from any deficiencies.
Please see the attachments: Attachment 1 - List of Items, Attachment 2 - Delivery Locations, and the Market Research Survey 2022-North Florida. If interested, we strongly encourage you to respond. We appreciate and thank you in advance for any feedback. Your responses regarding this solicitation are requested back by the close of business on Monday, April 25th, 2022. Please respond via e-mail to the following addresses: damaris.figueroa@dla.mil, and carrie.mckendry@dla.mil. PLEASE NOTE: You are only required to send back the completed PDF file “Market Research Survey 2022-North Florida”
SPE30022R0024 Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Subsistence
3/24/22, 2:25 PM Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Support for DLA Troop Support DoD and Non-DoD Customers Located in North Florida
**Amendment 0001 has been issued**
Synopsis: SPE300-22-R-0024
This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested.
Solicitation SPE300-22-R-0024 is issued as a request for proposals (RFP) and is designed to provide a full-line of produce support for DoD (Troop) customers and Non-DoD (USDA School) customers located in the North Florida zone. This acquisition will be issued on a small business set-aside (100%) basis. NAICS code 311991, small business size standard 500 employees. A waiver of the Non-Manufacturer rule has not been requested for this acquisition because it is an acquisition for multiple items. In accordance with 13 CFR 121.406(d)(1), if at least 50% of the estimated contract value of an acquisition for multiple items is composed of items that are manufactured by small business concerns, then a waiver of the Non-Manufacturer rule is not required. As such, for this acquisition, it is expected that items comprising at least 50% of the contract value will be manufactured by small business concerns. The contracting officer must be immediately notified if it appears as though this requirement will not be met.
The total length of the contract will be five (5) years. It contains one (1) twenty-four (24) month tier and two (2) eighteen (18) month tiers.
Its estimated maximum total contract dollar value is $108,285,000.00. The delivery points require indefinite quantities of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables throughout the term of the contract. A more detailed listing of the delivery sites can be found in the solicitation. All responsible sources may submit proposals that will be considered by DLA Troop Support.
The Government will award a contract(s) resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror(s) whose offer(s) conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The source selection method for this procurement will be the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) source selection procedures and shall use the following to evaluate offers:
1. Technical Acceptability - A technically acceptable offer is an offer that takes no exceptions to the terms and conditions in the solicitation and complies fully with all submission requirements, including submissions relating to the two subfactors listed below. A proposal that takes exception to solicitation terms and conditions or that fails to comply with all submission requirements may be deemed technically unacceptable and, thus, may be found ineligible, and removed from further consideration, for the award. By submitting a proposal with no exceptions, an offeror is confirming it possesses the necessary facilities, equipment, technical skills and capacity to successfully provide all items required by this solicitation. The following sub-factors will be evaluated and must be found acceptable for a proposal to be eligible for award:
A. Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) License – The offeror shall possess and submit proof of a valid current PACA license.
B. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Audit – The offeror shall submit a valid, current USDA GAP/GMP audit report / certificate covering a full range of fresh fruits and vegetables for each place of performance identified in the offeror’s proposal. The audit report must demonstrate a passing score, and specifically passing in the following parts: General, Wholesale Distribution (6) and Preventive Food Defense (7). In lieu of a USDA GAP/GMP audit report / certificate, the offeror may submit an audit report / certificate conducted by a recognized private independent third-party certifying company certifying to an industry recognized food safety standard that exceeds all aspects of the USDA GAP/GMP audit report / certificate requirements. The audit report(s) must demonstrate that a passing score(s) was/were received. NOTE: Offerors relying on a non-USDA GAP/GMP audit report / certificate must agree to have a USDA GAP/GMP audit report / certificate for each place of performance by the start of contract performance.
2. Pricing - Pricing is required for all items found in the Schedule of Items (for each Group, if applicable) and for all tiers. Failure to offer pricing for all items and for all tiers may result in a proposal being removed from consideration for award as technically unacceptable. The Government will perform an aggregate price analysis on all items found in the Schedule of Items (for each Group, if applicable). To determine an offeror's Evaluated Aggregate Price, the Weighted Aggregate Distribution Price will be added to the Aggregate Delivered Price. Please refer to paragraph (A) of this provision for further details regarding these price components. The award(s) will be made on the basis of the lowest Evaluated Aggregate Price (for each Group, if applicable) of proposals meeting or exceeding the acceptability standards for non-price factors. The Government reserves the right to remove item(s) from the Schedule of Items or do a common item comparison if offerors do not submit pricing for all items. Prior to award, the offered prices of the presumptive awardee(s) will be evaluated on an individual line-item basis to determine whether each price is fair and reasonable using analytical techniques deemed appropriate by the Contracting Officer in her/his complete discretion.
A. Price Components:
1. Weighted Aggregate Distribution Price:
Aggregate Distribution Price is obtained by first multiplying the proposed distribution price for each item in the Schedule of Items by the item’s estimated quantity to calculate the total distribution price for each item. Then, the total distribution prices of all items will be added together to determine the total distribution price for tier 1. The total distribution price for each subsequent tier will also be calculated. The total distribution prices for all tiers will be added together to determine the Aggregate Distribution Price. The Aggregate Distribution Price is then multiplied by a weighting factor of 6 to arrive at the Weighted Aggregate Distribution Price. Note: the weighting factor is applied only to the overall Aggregate Distribution Price (not on a line item basis), and is to be used for evaluation purposes only. The Government's use of a weighting factor of 6 for distribution pricing is done in order to more accurately balance the significance of the pricing components and their respective impact on any subsequent contract(s) issued under this solicitation.
2. Aggregate Delivered Price:
The Aggregate Delivered Price is obtained by first multiplying the proposed delivered price of each item in the Schedule of Items by the item’s estimated quantity to calculate the total delivered price for each item. Then, the total delivered prices of all items will be added together to determine the total delivered price for tier 1. The total delivered price for each subsequent tier will also be calculated. The total delivered prices for all tiers will be added together to determine the Aggregate Delivered Price.
3. Evaluated Aggregate Price:
The Evaluated Aggregate Price is obtained by adding the Weighted Aggregate Distribution Price and Aggregate Delivered Price together.
4. For purposes of the Price Proposal Evaluation, Weighted Aggregate Distribution Price and Aggregate Delivered Price are considered equal. This equality is accounted for mathematically by applying a weighting factor of 6 (based on current Government data) to the Aggregate Distribution Price.
Options are not included in this solicitation.
A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.
Past Performance will not be used as an evaluation factor for this solicitation since technical problems are not anticipated. In accordance with FAR 15.304(c)(3)(iii), the Contracting Officer has determined that Past Performance is not appropriate due to the fact that all producers of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables are considered to be technically equal based on historical records of equal technical ratings for past performance. All known vendors have similar records of good delivery of quality items. Past Performance will be considered in a determination of responsibility for the successful offeror prior to award.
The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions with offerors. Therefore, the offeror’s initial offer should contain the offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. The Government may reject any or all offers if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest offer; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received.
See www.ams.usda.gov/services/auditing/gap-ghp/audit for details concerning program and certification.
Copies of the solicitation will be found on www.beta.SAM.gov in a future posting and the DLA-EBS Internet Bid Board System (DIBBS) at https://www.dibbs.bsm.dla.mil. If not already registered, prospective offerors will be required to do so prior to viewing and downloading a copy of the solicitation. RFPs are in portable document format (PDF). In order to download and view these documents, prospective offers will need the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. This software is available free at http://adobe.com. Solicitation is expected to be issued in May 2023 and will be issued under FAR 15.101-2 Low Price Technically Acceptable (LTPA).
The resultant award will be for an indefinite delivery contract, with a guaranteed minimum of 10% of the first year.
SPE30022R0024 Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support Subsistence
5/4/23, 3:54 PM