Addendum #2.docx

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

To All Suppliers:

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania defines a solicitation “Addendum”” as an addition to or amendment of the original terms, conditions, specifications, or instructions of a procurement solicitation (e.g., Invitation for Bids or Request for Proposals).

List any and all changes:

Official responses to questions:

1. Q. On item number 291456 – canned applesauce, why would you spec one imported brand and one domestic brand only? Do you understand that there are vast price discrepancies on imported and domestic applesauce? Do you realize that any item with only one imported label will not save the commonwealth any money?

A. All of the products were tested for the RFEI by category based on the quality of the product against a set of criteria – the brands/country of origins were not taken into consideration during this process and the identified acceptable products based on this process.

1. Q. On item number 319922 – canned fruit mix – why would you spec one imported brand and one domestic brand only? Do you understand that there are vast price discrepancies on imported and domestic applesauce? Do you realize that any item with only one imported label will not save the commonwealth any money?

A. See response to Question #1

1. Q. Do you understand that by having the bid structured the way it is for these items, the commonwealth is exposing itself to overpay hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of the bid period?

A. See response to Question #1

1. Q. For the last bid, Knouse Foods Apple leaf sliced apples were hard spec’d by the DOC. The reason I thought for this was to guarantee consistency for the state of PA. The approved suppliers would be supplying imported china product. Why was Knouse omitted as an approved label for this item?

A. The Apple Leaf sliced apples product submitted for the RFEI was found to be unacceptable during testing for the following – product was off color mixed yellow, white and pale green; irregular size pieces with a lot decay; tart and sour; metallic smell; soggy not crisp constancy.

For electronic solicitation responses via the SRM portal:

· Attach this Addendum to your solicitation response. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.

· To attach the Addendum, download the Addendum and save to your computer. Move to ‘My Notes”, use the “Browse” button to find the document you just saved and press “Add” to upload the document.

· Review the Attributes section of your solicitation response to ensure you have responded, as required, to any questions relevant to solicitation addenda issued subsequent to the initial advertisement of the solicitation opportunity.

For solicitations where a “hard copy” (vs. electronic) response is requested:

· Attach this Addendum to your solicitation response. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.

· If you have already submitted a response to the original solicitation, you may either submit a new response, or return this Addendum with a statement that your original response remains firm, by the due date to the following address:

Except as clarified and amended by this Addendum, the terms, conditions, specifications, and instructions of the solicitation and any previous solicitation addenda, remain as originally written.

Very truly yours,

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