National_Mobile_Food_Service_QA.pdf

2015‐19 National Mobile Food Service Contract Pre‐Proposal Conference Nov. 13, 2014

1. There is no longer an economic price adjustment included in this contract. Option year rates will be identified in the proposal and evaluated at the time of award. The Government expects to see a moderate price increase from year to year and wants it to be fair.

Q: How will we account for things we can't anticipate? What if the minimum wage increases exponentially?

A: We can't plan for everything. If something dramatic changes we will refer to what the FAR will allow, but we aren't going to re‐write our specs.

2. Q: Will accepting assignments outside of the MAP count against the minimum?

A: Yes

3. Q: Will the 24 hours that we are given off after an assignment count against the minimum?

A: No, not for your R and R.

4. The required amount of potable water upon arrival to the incident has been increased from 200 to 480 gallons.

Q: Can it be multiple tanks?

A: Yes, as long as the kitchen has access to all of the water.

5. Q: Does this include the hand wash station?

A: No, it does not include the hand wash.

6. Q: Can I arrive with more?

A: You can bring more, the minimum is 480 gallons.

7. The Food unit leader may release you if it is determined there is no longer a need for your services.

Q: If we are still serving 300 firefighters and the food unit leader determines that there is no longer a need for mobile food services, can they release us?

A: Yes it is at their discretion.

Once again food preparation and serving units shall be fully enclosed. A few examples of how to fully enclose the preparation area include screens, air curtains or other means to control dust and insects. Be sure to show us how you will do this in your proposal.

8. Ventilation Equipment: All exhaust hood ventilation systems shall be by NFPA approved standards. We are asking you to install it with a certified company. The Park Service actually sent a unit home because they didn’t have the appropriate system.

Q: Does the system need to come with a certificate or be certified?

A: It needs to be certified that it has been inspected. They put a sticker on them similar to a fire extinguisher. NFPA is a national standard.

We do expect you to have an area to make sandwiches or salads on site.

9. Q: How do we handle folks who claim to have food allergies? Everyone seems to be jumping on the ban wagon and claiming they have an allergy, when we suspect it is more of a preference and this causes problems.

A: I would recommend working it out with the food unit leader. If it becomes a problem call Kellen.

We don’t want you to have to cater to everyone's unreasonable requests or put you in the position to make a judgment call.

10. Q: We run into problems when things are grey. I suggest making the food unit leader the filter. Make folks get a vegetarian card or something.

A: Send folks with special requests to the food unit leader. It is in the contract that the food unit leader needs to let you know how many vegetarian meals that you need to be prepared for.

11. Q: How do we make sure that the vegetarian hot meals are making it to the right person on the hill?

A: The trick to shipping the vegetarian meals on the hill is to plate the vegetarian portions of the dinner and put them in a box labeled vegetarian. It is up to the spike camp manager to make sure they get them. They may not be as hot, but it is the best we can do.

Pancakes, French toast or waffles‐3 to 4 oz.

12. Vendor: Our problem with this requirement is it takes up the steam table capacity for the biscuits and gravy.

A: You may have to look at the equipment you offer.

13. Q: Can it be on separate plates?

A: Yes

14. Q: Can the bread be in the breakfast bar?

A: Yes

15. Q: I don’t think the pancakes will travel well in a hot bag. They will turn into mush.

A: If the food unit leader thinks something won't travel well, he will ask you to change what you make for the hot cans.

16. Q: In a breakfast burrito, does the whole burrito count towards the protein weight or does just the protein in the burrito count towards the protein?

A: We are looking for the weight of the actual protein within the burrito.

Sack Lunch:

With our strict calorie requirement we have forced you to put high calorie low quality food items in the lunches.

We have taken a fresh look at the lunches to figure out how to provide a better lunch that doesn’t get thrown away.

The intent is to get maximum variety. We understand delivery shortages and will deal with them on an individual basis.

Primary meal‐ Will now allow for meatloaf, meatballs, bologna, and bratwurst, not just deli meat.

17. Q: Can a sub sandwich cover two entrees?

A: No, unless the food unit leader specifically requests/approves this.

18. Q: What is a nonmeat protein substitute?

A: Imitation lunch meat, soy lunchmeat.

Secondary Meal

19. Q: Does the secondary meal need bread?

A: No, but you may need to convince the FUDL about what would be considered and approved as a secondary meal.

20. Q: Would ground beef patties and meatloaf need bread in the secondary meal?

A: Use common sense such as pairing summer sausage with a baguette.

Mary: The FDUL may ask you to make up an example lunch. They may be more likely to approve your ideas if you provide a sample. This season will be a learning curve for the FDULs too.

Vegetarian meal options:

21. Q: Can salads be considered a main meal?

A: Only as the secondary meal.

A change that has been made is that cream cheese is no longer considered a protein. Folks from the field are tired of cream cheese as the main meal.

Salads‐ I appreciate the time you will be taking to make this work. I know it is hard.

22. Q: Can we talk about salad dressing?

A: Yes. It needs to be a shelf stable product, pre‐ packaged dressing is ok. When we say non‐mayo based premixed salad we are referring to pre‐mixed potato salads and such.

When we talk about a volume of veggies, we don’t want them packed in there, and we don’t want just two in there. Use common sense

23. Q: Baby bell peppers?

A: You can serve a big pepper if you want in slices or serve the smaller ones, these are really just ideas.

24. Q: When we list out our menus do we list every 6 snacks? Five days down the road we don’t know what will show up? It might not be what we listed.

A: Yes, we want to see the variety. Go to your FUDL and talk about changes. Be specific.

Vendor: Some FUDL, hold your feet to the fire as far as deviating from the menu. Sometimes in the heat of battle it isn’t exactly like the menu.

Mary: If you get a FUDL that is unreasonable, call Kellen, Bill or myself.

Take a look at the sample lunches. We are ok that the calories may drop a bit, as long as we maintain variety and quality.

25. Q: What kind of cold drink are you looking for in the hot cans?

A: We want there to be something cold to drink. It doesn’t matter how or what. Work with your FDUL.

Bill: Our intent is to have fresh sandwiches in our lunches. We changed the language concerning "prepared by" on site. Sandwiches will be labeled with a consume by date and time, it will be within 24 hours of when it was made. Sandwiches that are prepared off site need to be labelled as "prepared on this date."

26. Q: Do we need to change the stamp as we are making the lunches to appropriately document the 24 hours, because there is some time between the first and last sandwich that is made?

A: Talk to the FDUL. I don’t think you need to get that specific but if that is what they want we will accommodate.

27. Q: Are you looking for a certain amount of past performance (references)?

A: Page 110, within the last 5 years.

28. Q: Business proposal? L.6 (2)(i)?

A: We want to see how you will fund your operation, especially in the first year whether it's internally or externally.

29. Q: Who issues the "certification sticker" for the Potable?

A: It will vary from state to state but it will most likely be the health inspector.

30. Q: Will you notify us if we are within the competitive range? Do you have the range set?

A: It will depend how many proposals we get. With the showers, everyone was included. In a similar way this contract will have a broad competitive range. It you are not within it, I will notify you.

31. Q: If I am notified that I am outside of competitive range am I out?

A: Yes, unless we open it up for discussions. Then you could possibly come back in.

32. Q: What is the goal for award date?

A: Our TEB will meet the first week in Feb. We will try to have the awards out ASAP. Prices should be evaluated by that point. It will depend on revisions.

Question submitted in writing prior to the conference.

1.)Section J.5A Sack Lunch Options—Since some of the noted portion sizes for energy snacks are not readily available would The Government consider revising that category to 6 items, where if we take it off of one item (ounces and/or calories) can we make it up on another item? In other words, could we offer a sum total of weight or calorie count?

Example: Per J.5A—Solicitation states 3 oz. trail mix; 1 oz. nuts; 2 oz. sandwich crackers; 2 oz. jerky; a dill pickle pack; 2 ea. Babybel cheese Alternatively could we offer? 2 oz. trail mix; 2 oz. nuts; 3 oz. sandwich crackers; 1 oz. jerky; a dill pickle; 2 Babybel cheeses.

Answer: No. The serving size is the minimum and was not developed to represent everything that is commercially available.

2.) Section J.5 Milk requirement is unclear. Please clarify. Do we need to have all varieties (whole, 2%, skim, chocolate, soy, rice) available at all times? In regards to spikes, are we required to send all varieties, or base it per request?

Answer: No. Requirements at incidents may vary depending on dietary requirements or tastes, but there is always a requirement for white and chocolate.

3) What is the Government’s thought on meatloaf, salami, Italian sausage, meatballs, etc. for lunch?

Answer: See C.4(d)(12).

Could we offer the following as the secondary?

A. Sliced salami and cheese 4 oz.? Yes

B. Grilled Italian sausage and peppers 4 oz.? Yes

C. Meatballs of any kind/flavor, can they be used as the primary sandwich? See C.4 (g)(1)(iii).

D. Can meatloaf only be used as a secondary, not as the primary sandwich? No. See C.4 (g)(1)(iii).

4.) Section J.5A—Under the Nut Option, only almonds, pistachios and mixed nuts are listed. Does this mean cashews and peanuts are no longer acceptable for variety?

Answer: J.5A is a list of examples. It is not all inclusive.

5.) What is the Government’s preferred container for packaging lunch salads?

Answer: Any container that is practical and logical in maintaining the integrity and quality of the salad. The firefighter should be able to eat directly out of the container.

6.) Section J.5A—Approved snack cookies—are Fig cookies the only approved cookie? No other varieties are mentioned.

Answer: The list is not all inclusive. Other cookies can be served with approval by the FDUL.

7.) Section C.3 (a) (5) ‐ Please clarify acceptable flooring for Sack Lunch Assembly area.

Answer: The floor shall provide for adequate control of dust and insects.

8.) Section C.1 (C) (3) ‐ Dust control provided by the Government for main serving area. Please clarify the area this entails.

Answer: This refers to the area around the serving line.

9.) Section C.3 (6) ‐ Salad Bar Area ‐ Currently our tents have open passage ways into the salad bar/beverage area. Are doors required? Do salad bar trailers have the same requirement for dust and insect control?

Answer: C.3(6) explicitly requires the use of doors capable of providing effective protection from insects and dust. If the salad bar is located in a trailer, the serving line is required to have insect and dust protection.

10.) Section C.4 (1) (iv) ‐ Pancakes, French Toast, or Waffles ‐ 3 to 4 oz. Are biscuits and gravy, cheese blintzes, and/or crepes acceptable?

Answer: See section C.4 (d)(3). With the exception of crepes, the other items would be a substitute for the bread requirement not for the pancakes, French toast or waffles.

11.) Section C.4 (3)(vi) ‐100% Fruit Juice—Can juice blends be offered as long as they are 100% juice?

Answer: Yes.

12.) Section D. 4 (a) ‐ The old requirement was “…letters no less than 4 inches in height.” Does this remain the same? The number is omitted in the solicitation.

Answer: Yes. The requirement remains the same.

13.) Section I. 13 questions pgs. 64 and 65 ‐ Are those questions and answers to be placed in Business Proposal with A, B, and K?

Answer: Yes. It should be submitted with sections A,B and K.

14.) Section M.2: Cost/Technical Trade‐offs –please clarify the example sited with Boise and Idaho Falls.

Answer: The government may make the determination based on historical use of the DDP, however you may be awarded one location over another if the first location is higher on your list of preferred locations.

15.) When performing work in CA, we currently follow CA overtime rules. Should we be following CA overtime rules, or are we exempt from following CA overtime rules as a Federal Contractor? (Note: your answer to this question may have a significant impact on the price we may offer).

Answer: The wage determination dictates what workers should be paid in each state. Beyond that, the Service Contract Act and FAR 52.222‐4 shall be followed.

16.) Section G: We understand that, under the Solicitation, we will now be responsible for paying privilege use tax in non‐exempt States, and will no longer be reimbursed for paying the privilege use, or similar, tax . Is this correct?

Answer: Yes

17.) We currently pay privilege use tax in AZ. Are you aware whether there are any other states where paying a privilege use, or similar tax, is required?

Answer: I am not qualified to speak to that topic. Please consult a tax professional.

18.) What is the target date for the contract award release?

Answer: We are aiming at March 1 for contract awards.

19.) In Sec. C (3) it states that there is a minimum requirement of 500 gals of potable water for the kitchen use only. Question: does "kitchen use only" include prep kitchen and salad bar kitchen? If I have 500 gals going to the main cooking kitchen and the prep kitchen and the salad trailer, does this meet the spec?

Answer: The intent is to have 480 gallons available to the main kitchen upon arrival at the incident. The tanks can be located on any piece of equipment but must be able to service the main kitchen.

20.) When we are preparing the "vegetarian primary meal" what constituted the 4 oz. of non‐meat protein in the sandwich. Example: Bean Burritos, wraps that contain beans and vegetables, vegie compote for sub sandwiches.

Answer: Vegetables do not fit the definition of a protein. See C.4(d)(9) for some examples.

Non meat portions. What constitutes a 4 oz. portion?

And the examples on C.4 (d) 9 our guidelines?

Example: Macaroni and cheese non meat option. Is it 4 oz. a portion?

Answer: The non‐meat protein should be primarily protein based. Macaroni and cheese would most likely be inappropriate as a non‐meat protein as the contract would require 4oz of cheese.

21. Is the Second Entre (Non Meat) an optional item for the dinner meal?

No. The Second Entre (Non Meat) is required. C. 4(6)(b).

22. C.3 (1)(a)(vii)(B). All exhaust hood ventilation systems shall be equipped with an NFPA approved extinguisher system.

Will this be approved on a National, State, or County level? If approved at DDP state and county level will it be acceptable to wherever MFSU is dispatched?

Answer: The system has to be approved by a certified inspector. Your local fire department is often the source for this.

Will a certain type (Ansul eg.) of system be required?

Answer: Yes. New requirements for 2014 – NFPA 96 requiring ANSI/UL 300 standards.

23. My employees are issued baseball caps as part of their uniform. Are they required to also put their hair in hair nets if it is not fully covered by the baseball cap?

Answer: Yes. Long hair hanging out of hats does not meet this requirement.

C.1(e)(6).

24. The current potable water tank is mounted under the kitchen trailer. Will I be required to meet the requirement for full ocular inspection of the tank?

Answer: Yes. The entire inside of the tank shall be visible for ocular inspection. C.3(3)

25. When the number of personnel being served exceeds 1200 my food storage area is maxed out. Is it permissible to store canned goods on pallets outside of the dry goods trailer?

Answer: No. You are required to maintain all facilities and equipment used for meal preparation, serving, storage, seating and cleanup in a sanitary condition. C.1(e)(5).

26. What equipment is required to have oil spill containment pads and pans?

Answer: All stationary equipment shall have oil spill containment kits consisting of both pads and pans, under the fuel tank, engine and any other petroleum containers, except miscellaneous fuel containers under 5 gallons.

Stationary equipment is defined as that remaining in one position for 24 hours or more, or that is parked in the same location for over 24 hours. C. 3(b).