VENDOR QUESTIONS MEAL RECOMPETE 093021.pdf

INDEFINITE DELIVERY INDEFINITE QUANTITY(IDIQ) MEALS FOR DISASTER SURVIVORS (REDUCED SODIUM, SURVIVOR DAILY RATIONS, SHORT SHELF-LIFE ANDCOMMERCIAL MEALS)

Vendor Questions for Meals Recompete Solicitation #: 70FB7021R00000027

1. Per Solicitation document, DHS/FEMA intends to award multiple IDIQ contracts, however, under Task Order Procedures (Pg. 41-

42 of Solicitation document), it is stated that “Contracting Officer/Contract Specialist would issue task order to most highly qualified offeror with which a fair and reasonable price agreement is reached.”

Considering the significance of maximum quantity requirements (i.e. relative to required lead time) prescribed in SOW document of

Solicitation (Attachment+2+Meals+SOW+092321 file – Pg. 4 of 16) corresponding to Stock Replenishment During Steady State and

Emergency Response, and the current state of our food industry’s supply chain which has been constrained and negatively impacted since 2020 by COVID-19, is DHS/FEMA’s expectation to place Task Orders with a single qualified offeror only, or is it reasonable to assume that Task Orders may be placed across multiple offerors as needed (i.e. two or more holders of IDIQ contracts)?

FEMA may award Task Orders to multiple IDIQ holders if and when needed.

2 The requirement calls for the words “REDUCED SODIUM” shall be in black bold capital letters on a white background. The sticker on the outside of the case(s) shall be (2) inch in height and 10 ¼ inch length. Instead of a sticker, can "REDUCED SODIUM" be pre-printed on boxes? Pre-printed option allows for a more efficient packaging process.

Please see Statement of Work Amendment 01 Section VI.1 Packaging and Marking.

3. Pg. 2 of Attachment 2 SOW Document Technical "For all meals, it is required that each case include a minimum variety of six entrée meals per case. Considering current constrained state of our national food supply chain and limitations in securing availability of a wide variety of foods selections, will FEMA find acceptable a minimum variety of four to six (4 to 6) entree meals per case?

Please see Statement of Work Amendment 01 Section VI.1 Packaging and Marking.

4. Pg. 4 of Attachment 2 SOW Document Contract "It's stated that the restocking quantity is negotiated with the Contracting Officer at the time the order is modified to reduce or cancel the ordered quantity. For FEMA cancelled or reduced orders, can FEMA be more specific regarding what exactly gets negotiated in terms of a contractor's incurred order fulfillment costs including but not limited to cost of order purposed raw materials, packaging, manufacturing, allocated G&A, etc.?" As stated in page 5 section VIII of the SOW

"A restocking fee may apply if the ordered quantity is either reduced or the order is cancelled before receipt by the Government. The restocking fee does not accrue automatically. The restocking quantity is based on the number of commodities returning to stock. The restocking quantity is negotiated with the Contracting Officer at the time the order is modified to reduce or cancel the ordered quantity. Supporting documentation shall be required from the contractor demonstrating the number of commodities returned to stock.

The type of documentation the Contracting Officer may consider include, but are not limited to, proof of quantity en route to the delivery location at the time the contractor was notified of the reduction".

5. Pg. 14-16 of SOW Attachment 2 SOW Document Contract "It's stated that the Government reserves the right to provide its own sourced transportation for supplies ordered from the vendor. In this case the Government will not be charged transportation cost by the vendor for shipping transportation. Can FEMA clarify whether the transportation cost by vendor referenced in the above paragraph is the same as the ""Delivery cost (per unit) to any location within the US (CONUS)/outside the US (OCONUS)"" included in

Attachment 1 Pricing Document?"

Yes, the verbiage is in direct reference to the Steady State Delivery cost per meal and the Emergency Response Delivery cost per meal. However, this may be utilized on a case by case basis. See attached revised Attachment 1 Pricing

6. Pg. 12 of Attachment 2 SOW Document Technical "For Survival Daily Rations (SDRs), requirement calls for a handclasp emblem which shall be printed on each package in accordance with figure one. The emblem may be on one side of the material and the dimensions shall be not less than 7/8 inch wide and 1-1/4 inch high. The handclasp emblem is not required on condiments or spreads.

Pictorial utilization instructions shall be included on each package. Alternatively, for components other than the entrees, an insert may be placed inside each meal bag showing pictorial utilization instructions for each component. ""Figure one"" referenced in paragraph above is not included in Solicitation documents. Also, the emblems and pictorials referenced in paragraph above have been commonly utilized by U.S. Government in Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDRs) which are normally designated as food gifts from the

USA to other foreign nations coping with humanitarian crises typically resulting from war or civil conflict. In order to streamline supply of film/packaging material for SDRs and avoid long lead times and higher cost associated with pre-printed graphics in film materials, we strongly recommend that these emblems and pictorials be removed from SDR labeling requirements. Can you let us know whether this requirement can be removed?"

Please see Statement of Work Amendment 01 Attachment 1 3. Survivor Daily Rations Specifications Page 12.

7. Pg. 12 of Attachment 2 SOW Document for Survival Daily Rations (SDRs), requirement calls for ten meal bags snugly packed into

V2s fiberboard boxes. V2s fiberboard box requirement appears to be in conflict with previously stated packing requirement (see

PACKAGING AND MARKING – Pg. 2 of SOW Attachment 2 Document) which states that “All meals shall be packaged in the contractor’s standard commercial casing”. Furthermore, V2s fiberboard is a highly specialized paper material not normally kept in stock by corrugated/paper suppliers; keeping the V2s requirement would hinder suppliers' ability to respond quickly to delivering shippers to FEMA meals contractors, especially during times of emergency or disaster relief response; currently V2s use has declined considerably especially among assemblers of U.S. military rations making its procurement far more challenging than ever before.

Can you let us know whether this requirement can be removed?"

Please see Statement of Work Amendment 01 Attachment 1 3. Survivor Daily Rations Specifications Page 12.

8. Pg. 9 of Attachment 2 SOW Document Technical "For Short Shelf-Life (SSL) and Commercial Meals, there are currently three sets of Nutritional and Caloric requirement tables. Can you please explain what the Total Meal Package (Caloric Range) means relative to the other two sets of Nutritional requirements for Short Shelf Life (SSL) Meal and Commercial Meals?

Please see Statement of Work Amendment 01 Attachment 1 Section 2. Short Shelf Life and Commercial Meals Specifications Page 9.

Also, being both of these meals ultimately similar type of commercial meals, can FEMA consolidate these nutritional and caloric requirements into a single table that lists in one single table all nutritional requirements for both the SSL and Commercial Meal? This will help significantly any contractor's ability to build menus in the most efficient manner possible while avoiding any slight confusion in meeting FEMA’s nutritional requirements.

The Short Shelf Life and Commercial Meals nutritional and caloric requirements shall remain separate.

9. Will local small businesses or minority businesses have any “Set aside” opportunities with this bid? This will be unrestricted

10. Will points be given for HubZone bidders. Evaluation will be done based on the evaluation criteria included in the solicitation

11. Is there technical support for minority-owned business enterprises for bid preparation or award fulfillment? No. However, Minority owned business can reach out to the Small Business Administration at https://www.sba.gov for further assistance.

12. Are there any bonding requirements? No, bonds are not a requirement under this solicitation

13. How soon from the bid award will we need to begin? Estimated Period of Performance is to begin November 1, 2021.

14. What are the payment terms once the shipment is received? Prompt Payment Act is applicable.

15. Are there any additional points given to companies that have worked on Disaster Relief Programs? No.

16. Will the contract be based upon the contractor's capacity? Is the capacity limited by region (Southeast, Southwest, etc)? Per the

Statement of Work, Section II Scope: The contractor shall be responsible in being able to make deliveries throughout 48 contiguous states (CONUS), other than contiguous states (OCONUS) and U.S. territories.

17. Can the contractor work with subcontractors to execute the services? Subcontractor services are not prohibited.

18. Are there 30 day or 60-day payments? As stated in B.9 INVOICE INSTRUCTIONS of the solicitation, The contractor shall submit a monthly invoice upon delivery and acceptance of all supplies or services as specified in the Section B clause, “Consideration and Payment”.

19. Is this requirement broken up for multiple vendors? This requirement is intended to have multiple IDIQ awards. FEMA may award

Task Orders to multiple IDIQ holders if and when needed.

https://www.sba.gov/

20. I would appreciate it if you folks could provide us with an answer concerning the very, very low "minimum order" quantity, plus what is the estimated amount for each type of ration that FEMA plans to order for your distribution centers over the course of each year?

DHS/FEMA follows the FAR Subpart 16.5 Indefinite-Delivery Contracts Procedures regarding minimum guarantee. The estimated amount varies each year by usage based on disaster responses.

21. With the SDR requirements in the SOW requiring 1,750,000 meals, will require a very large in-house inventory of finished cased meals (10 meals per case). Will there be a guaranteed purchase agreement between FEMA and the Contractor to purchase these meals within the Shelf-Life requirements?

There will be no guaranteed purchase agreement for 1,750,000 SDR meals. DHS/FEMA follows the FAR Subpart 16.5 Indefinite-

Delivery Contracts Procedures regarding minimum guarantee. Please see Statement of Work Amendment 01 Attachment 1 Section VI,

4. Quantity Requirement.

22. Drop Trailer and & Daily Detention: Currently- daily Drop Trailer and Detention Rates we are being quoted as $350.00 -

$500.00/day. It is stated in Attachment II of the SOW that this rate will be reimbursed at $150.00/day in the first year and increase by

2% in each option year. Question: Are we only expected to be reimbursed this pass-through cost $150.00/ day when actual cost is much higher?

Yes, the maximum reimbursement will be $150.00/day.

23. Does a Small Business under NAICS CODE 311422 – Specialty Canners have to submit a Subcontracting Plan? Large Businesses are required to submit a Subcontracting Plan with their proposal.

24. Are the items listed at the top of Page 10 in SOW, including Sugar Packets and Matches; part of the menu examples on page 9 or are they required components?

Please see Statement of Work Amendment 01 Attachment 1 Section 3 Survivor Daily Rations (SDR) Specifications.

25. Can we get the pricing from the previous contract? No, we are not able to release a vendor’s proprietary information which pricing would be considered as such.

26. On page 12 of the Statement of Work, it reads that those meals can be in bags; can we request it only be in boxes?

These meals will be in bags.

27. Do we need to submit sample meal kit boxes for the evaluation? If so, where and who would those be delivered? No samples will be required. Pictures of the meals will be required. See RFP amendment 1.

28. It was unclear if these boxes were 1-day kits, three-day kits, five-day kits or one meal, three-meal, five meals, and seven meals per kit. Currently, we pack these meals for a healthcare company consisting of a five-meal kit. This is really important because they give you the calorie counts, they would like but need to clarify the number of meals or days this should cover. Short Shelf Life, Commercial, and Reduced Sodium Meals are packaged as 1 meal. Survivor Daily Rations are 1-day kits.

29. We did not see any description of the sizes of the boxes, is that left up to the vendor? This is left up to the vendor.

30. They outline a Tie Height of 60” for the pallets. Can that be modified to maximize the cube space on a truck? Maximum Tie

Heights usually is 80”. Tie Height of 60” is not referenced in the Statement of Work. Please see Statement of Work Amendment 01

Section VI. 1. Packing and Marking Page 3

31. Is the vendor required to provide the upfront investment to ramp up the program, or upon contract award, will the government furnish an upfront draw for items ordered through a task order? The Government does not provide upfront draws. Monthly invoices are to be submitted by the Vendor for payment. See RFQ document, B.8 Billing Instructions

32. The solicitation states that there is no current funding for this program. Could the government clarify if this program is anticipated to receive funding? There is an expectation that this requirement will get funded as needed.

33. It was unclear if vendors are to bid on zones individually or as a whole? Per the Statement of Work, Section II Scope: The contractor shall be responsible in being able to make deliveries throughout 48 contiguous states (CONUS), other than contiguous states (OCONUS) and U.S. territories.

34. It was likewise unclear if pricing is to be bid by the zone or as a whole. Per the Statement of Work, Section II Scope: The contractor shall be responsible in being able to make deliveries throughout 48 contiguous states (CONUS), other than contiguous states (OCONUS) and U.S. territories.