Chicken_egg_final version 4 30 14 index.docx

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

One Ashburton Place, 5th Floor, Boston MA 02108

Request for Response (RFR)

Document Title: USDA Approved Processors For Commodity Processing of Eggs and Chicken

COMMBUYS Bid#: BD-14-1040-1040C-1040L-00000000305 Agency Document Number: ELD-RFR 2014-02 April 30, 2014

Please Note: This is a single document associated with a complete Bid (also referred to as Solicitation) that can be found on www.COMMBUYS.com. All Bidders are responsible for reviewing and adhering to all information, forms and requirements for the entire Bid, which are all incorporated into the Bid. Bidders may also contact the COMMBUYS Helpdesk at COMMBUYS@state.ma.us or the COMMBUYS Helpline at 1-888-MA-STATE. The Helpline is staffed from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Eastern Standard or Daylight time, as applicable, except on federal, state and Suffolk county holidays.

Section page(S)

1 RFR INTRODUCTION AND GENRAL DESCRIPTION ……..…………… 1 - 2

1.1 Procurement Scope and Description

1.2 Background information

1.3 Application Procurement Law

1.4 Number of Awards

1.5 Adding Contractors after initial

Contract Award

1.6 Eligible Entities

1.7 Acquisition Method(s)

1.8 Contract Duration

1.9 Estimated Value of the Contract

2 ESTIMATED PROCUREMENT CALENDAR ……………………………… 3 - 4

2.3 Amendment Deadline

3 SPECIFICATIONS …………………………………………………………….. 5 – 9

3.1.3 Financial stability including bankruptcy, litigation and contract Defaults

4. OTHERTERMS ……………………..…… …………………………………………………10

Manager).

4.1.5 Failure to perform contractual obligations

5 AUDIT ………..……...…………………………………………………………………

6. EVALUATION CRITERIA……..……..………………………………………… 1 1 - 12

(Minimum of 10% weigh)

6.3.3 Executive Order 509, Establishing Nutrition Standards for Food Purchased and Served By State Agencies

7. HOW TO SUBMIT AN ELECTRONIC QUOTE……….……………………………….13

8. APPENDIX 1-REQUIRED TERMS FOR ALL RFRs……….…………………… 14 - 15

9. APPENDIX 2- RFR-REQUIRED SPECIFICATIONS……………….…………… 16 - 22

10. APPENDIX 3- OTHER SPECIFICATIONS……….…………………………………….23

11. APPENDIX 4- INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXECUTION AND SUBMISSION

OF COMMONWEALTH STANDARD FORMS……….…………………………..24 - 27

Section page(S)

12 APPENDIX 5- GLOSSARY…………………………………………………...28 - 29

13 APPENDIX 6- OTHER SPECIFICATIONS.………………………………………30

14 APPENDIX 7- Instructions for Vendors Responding To Bids Electronically.………………………………………………………..31 - 33

Page ii

1. RFR Introduction and General Description

1.1 Procurement Scope and Description

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Office of Elder Affairs, is soliciting Bidders for the acquisition of USDA and Massachusetts Department of Education approved Processors of frozen whole chickens and frozen liquid eggs.

1.2 Background information

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Elderly Nutrition program provides more than 7.5 million meals per year to seniors age 60 years and older. Meal services are provided to clients through a statewide network of 28 nutrition programs operated by non-profit Area Agencies on Aging and local Councils on Aging.

Meals served to the elderly are classified as congregate meals or home delivered meals. Congregate meals are served to groups of elders at more than 400 meal sites throughout the Commonwealth. Home delivered meals are delivered to frail elders in their homes usually in conjunction with other home care services provided through Aging Service Access Points.

A majority of the 28 nutrition programs hold contracts with food service management companies and school food services to prepare meals for the congregate sites and home delivery. The other nutrition programs prepare meals at kitchens owned or leased by the nutrition programs or by another agency.

Elder meals are funded through a combination of Federal and State appropriations, as well as donations from clients using the program. The Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides the program with approximately 1.25 million dollars’ worth of donated foods, referred to as “commodities” or “commodity foods”. Commodities are available at various times during the year through the USDA and the Massachusetts Department of Education (the Commonwealth’s designated Distribution Agency for USDA Commodity foods).

Commodity foods are acquired by the USDA through various specialized Federal agencies involved with surplus agricultural products and farm price support programs. Commodity foods include meats, poultry, fish, fruits and vegetables, as well as grains, oils peanuts, and dairy products.

A portion of the commodities is available in an unfinished state that requires processing into prepared food products ready and convenient for the food preparation sites. For example, ground turkey may be sent to a food processing company to be prepared as meatballs. The commodity food processing program, as described in this Request for Response (RFR), provides for a varied menu of food items at a reasonable cost.

1.3 Applicable Procurement Law

This Bid is issued under the following law(s):

· MGL c. 7, § 22; c. 30, § 51, § 52; and 801 CMR 21.00 (Goods and Services)

1.4 Number of awards

The Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA) intends to award, at a minimum, two contracts: one for frozen whole chicken and one for frozen liquid eggs. The chosen vendors must be approved USDA processors as approved by the Massachusetts Department of Education Food and Nutrition Services, the Designate Agency of USDA commodities.

1.5 Adding Contractors after initial Contract award

If over the life of the Contract, the Purchasing Department determines that additional Contractors should be added, these may first be drawn from qualified companies which responded to this Bid but not awarded contracts. If necessary to meet the requirements of the Commonwealth, the Bid may be reopened to obtain additional Quotes.

1.6 Eligible Entities

Any contract resulting from this Bid will be open for use to the Issuing Entity Only.

1.7 Acquisition Method(s)

The acquisition method(s) to acquire goods and/or services from this Bid is Fee for Service.

1.8 Contract Duration

The expected duration of this contract is as follows:

Initial Duration

Total Maximum Contract Duration

July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2019

No goods may be ordered after the Contract has expired.

1.9 Estimated Value of the Contract

The estimated value of purchase(s) resulting from this Bid is $5,000,000 ($3,500,000 for chicken; $1,500,000 for Eggs). The Commonwealth makes no guarantee that any commodities or services will be purchased from any Contract resulting from this Bid. Any estimates or past procurement volumes referenced in this Bid are included only for the convenience of Bidders, and are not to be relied upon as any indication of future purchase levels.

2. Estimated Procurement Calendar

Times are Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings (US), as displayed on the COMMBUYS system clock displayed to Bidders after logging in. If there is a conflict between the dates in this Procurement Calendar and dates in the Bid’s Header, the dates in the Bid’s Header on COMMBUYS shall prevail. Bidders are responsible for checking the Bid record, including Bid Q&A, on COMMBUYS for Procurement Calendar updates.

2.1 Written questions via the Bid Q&A on COMMBUYS

The “Bid Q&A” provides the opportunity for Bidders to ask written questions and receive written answers from the Purchasing Department regarding this Bid. All Bidders’ questions must be submitted through the Bid Q&A found on COMMBUYS (see below for instructions). Questions may be asked only prior to the Deadline for Submission of Questions stated in the Estimated Procurement Calendar. The issuing department reserves the right not to respond to questions submitted after this date. It is the Bidder’s responsibility to verify receipt of questions.

Please note that any questions submitted to the Purchasing Department using any other medium (including those that are sent by mail, fax, email or voicemail, etc.) will not be answered. To reduce the number of redundant or duplicate questions, Bidders are asked to review all questions previously submitted to determine whether the Bidder’s question has already been posted.

Bidders are responsible for entering content suitable for public viewing, since all of the questions are accessible to the public. Bidders must not include any information that could be considered personal, security sensitive, inflammatory, incorrect, collusory, or otherwise objectionable, including information about the Bidder’s company or other companies. The Purchasing Department reserves the right to edit or delete any submitted questions that raise any of these issues or that are not in the best interest of the Commonwealth or this Bid.

All answers are final when posted. Any subsequent revisions to previously provided answers will be dated.

It is the responsibility of the prospective Bidder and awarded Contractor to maintain an active registration in COMMBUYS and to keep current the email address of the Bidder’s contact person and prospective contract manager, if awarded a contract, and to monitor that email inbox for communications from the Purchasing Department, including requests for clarification. The Purchasing Department and the Commonwealth assume no responsibility if a prospective Bidder’s/awarded Contractor’s designated email address is not current, or if technical problems, including those with the prospective Bidder’s/awarded Contractor’s computer, network or internet service provider (ISP) cause email communications sent to/from the prospective Bidder/Awarded contractor and the Purchasing Department to be lost or rejected by any means including email or spam filtering.

2.2 Locating Bid Q&A

Log into COMMBUYS, locate the Bid, acknowledge receipt of the Bid, and scroll down to the bottom of the Bid Header page. The “Bid Q&A” button allows Bidders access to the Bid Q&A page.

2.3 Amendment Deadline

The Purchasing Department reserves the right to make amendments to the Bid after initial publication. It is each Bidder’s responsibility to check COMMBUYS for any amendments, addenda or modifications to this Bid, and any Bid Q&A records related to this Bid. The Purchasing Department and the Commonwealth accepts no responsibility and will provide no accommodation to Bidders who submit a Quote based on an out-of-date Bid or on information received from a source other than COMMBUYS.

3 Specifications

Respondents to this RFR must meet certain specifications and requirements in order to be considered qualified food-processing vendors under this program.

· Only vendors approved and listed with the United States Department of Agriculture as Approved Processors and Massachusetts Department of Education, Food and Nutrition Services, will be considered eligible for the purposes of this RFR.

· Bidders must submit a Nutrition Requirement Analysis (NRA) and an End Product Data Schedule (EPDS), as outlined in the Descriptions of Items for Bid (Attachment One) for each item to be bid upon. This requirement applies to the initial term of the RFR. Revised NRA and EPDS documents are required with the confirmation of each successive contract renewal period.

· All foods must meet the nutrition standards for meals prepared for the Massachusetts elderly nutrition program which has its standards established by the processing standards in Appendix D, which apply to the US Dietary Guideline and The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

· Additional required terms appear in the Appendices to this RFR.

3.1 Bidder Qualifications

Responses and or attachments to the below are to be included in the responses. If not applicable, indicate “NA”.

3.1.1 Company certifications and affiliations

Company affiliations Statutory, certification and license requirements

3.1.2 Company Experience

Business background, years in business, years in the industry of the Bid, Organizational chart

3.1.3 Financial stability including bankruptcy, litigation and contract defaults Most current audited annual financial statements Gross annual revenue for most recently completed fiscal year Last bankruptcy and current/pending litigation Defaults on contracts Current days to pay <supplier invoices> Date of last order

3.1.4 References and reference Information and/or requirements

Largest customers in MA if applicable Largest state government customers if applicable

3.1.5 Employment Requirements

Employee technical/business experience, certifications, licenses Resumes Background/CORI check requirements

3.2. Commodity Specifications

3.2.1 Eligible Commodities

Descriptions of Items for Bid:

1. Eggs For this proposal, the chosen vendor will receive pasteurized whole frozen eggs, 5 lb bulk package (commodity code 100046). Product must be produced for oven preparation. The end product will be:

1. Liquid eggs for bake, or scrambled

1. Omelets & Patties e.g. plain/cheese omelets, egg patty, French toast, frittatas, individual wrapped items.

1. Scrambled & hard cooked eggs sliced or chopped for salads or salad bar.

1. Chicken For this proposal, the chosen vendor will receive chilled chicken, bulk package (commodity code 1000100, 100103). Product must be produced for oven preparation. The end product will be

1. IQF fully quartered roasted chicken, packed dry without gravy or sauce in 30 lb. cases, and it all must contain 3 ounces of cooked meat.

1. IQF fully cooked marinated/breaded 8 piece chicken cut ups. Product is to be packed in separate color coded bags by different parts.

1. IQF fully cooked product from dark chicken meats. e.g. chicken meatballs, whole grain large popcorn style chicken, fajita chicken strips.

1. IQF fully cooked product from white chicken meats. e.g. grilled chicken breast, whole grain breaded chicken Breast fillets.

See Descriptions of Items for BID (Appendix 6) for additional information.

3.2.2 Eligible Brands

Unless otherwise specified in this Bid, any reference to a particular trademark, trade name, patent, design, type, specification, producer or supplier is not intended to strict this Bid to any manufacturer or proprietor or to constitute an endorsement of any commodity or service, and the department may consider clearly identified offers of substantially equivalent commodities and services submitted in response to such reference.

3.3 Service Specification

Responses and or attachments to the below are to be included in the responses. If not applicable, indicate “NA”.

3.3.1 Technical Support

Describe contact, staffing, times available (e.g. 9AM – 5PM EST), response time (e.g. within x hours), and escalation procedures..

3.3.2 Capacity plan, resources and infrastructure for this Contract

Capacity plan for meeting the contractual requirements for delivery Local warehouse, stocking levels and order lead times Infrastructure including facilities, trucks, equipment and offices

3.3.3 Customer forecasting (Vendor Managed Inventory or VMI)

Describe the process for forecasting Commonwealth Agency needs to maintain minimum inventory levels, e.g. Fuel oil keep fill programs, auto replenishment programs>

3.3.4 Emergency response plans/preparedness

In a declared state of emergency where the safety and well-being of Commonwealth citizens are at risk, contractors may be asked to supply the Commonwealth with the commodities and/or services under the Contract on a priority basis.

The Bidder’s Quote should include the following:

Indicate whether there is a written Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) that describes how the company will continue to do business in case of an emergency.

A list of emergency contact information including name, position/title, phone, email and cell phone.

A list of the Bidder’s building location (s) that would be available to serve the Commonwealth during an emergency.

A description of the areas of Massachusetts that the Bidder could supply in the event of an emergency (e.g., Entire State, Specific City or Region).

This information will not be considered in the evaluation of the Quote.

3.3.5 Geographic Service and Delivery Areas

The Executive Office Of Elder Affairs (EOEA) will try to coordinate with USDA to have commodity food products diverted directly to the food processor. However, should the commodity item reach the EOEA commercial distributor first, bidders to this RFR should include the cost that would be charged for pick-up. All deliveries to the commercial distributor must be Free On Board (F.O.B.) Destination Prepaid, to:

Original Crispy Pizza Crust Co. of Boston, Inc.

13 Blackstone Valley Place, PO Box 304 Lincoln, Rhode Island 02865 1-800-255-4256

3.3.6 Statement of Work (SOW) Requirements

Responses and or attachments to the below are to be included in the responses. If not applicable, indicate “NA”.

Work schedules and performance dates Change management procedures

3.3.7 Environmental Specifications

Minimum environmental specifications are available for dozens of product and service categories. Such specifications may address product / service performance, end-of-life management, disposal/reuse/recycling and other factors.

3.3.8 Executive Order 515, Establishing an Environmental Purchasing Policy Products and services purchased by state agencies must be in compliance with Executive Order 515, issued October 27, 2009. Under this Executive Order, Executive Departments are required to reduce their impact on the environment and enhance public health by procuring environmentally preferable products and services (EPPs) whenever such products and services perform to satisfactory standards and represent best value, consistent with 801 CMR 21.00. In line with this directive, all contracts, whether departmental or statewide, must comply with the specifications and guidelines established by OSD and the EPP Program. EPPs are considered to be products and services that help to conserve natural resources, reduce waste, protect public health and the environment, and promote the use of clean technologies, recycled materials, and less toxic products. Questions concerning the EO or the appropriate specifications may be directed to OSD’s EPP Procurement Program, www.mass.gov/epp.

The Order can be seen at http://www.mass.gov/Agov3/docs/Executive%20Orders/executive_order_515.pdf.

3.4 Environmental Plan

Beginning the first year of the Contract and throughout the life of the Contract, awarded Bidders must agree to work with Purchasing Department to examine the feasibility of implementing an environmental plan. The objective of this requirement is to actively encourage suppliers to incorporate sustainable practices throughout their business operations and further market such practices to Contract users. Such a plan may include, but not be limited to, the following:

· Implementing energy efficiency initiatives at the corporate level in line with Executive Order 484, such as lighting retrofits, purchase of energy from renewable sources, use of bio-heat fuel, and other energy reduction technologies.

· Encouraging environmental initiatives at a corporate and/or manufacturing level for the purpose of reducing the impact of manufacturing on the environment; such as clearly identifying recycled content of packaging on the packaging, providing product life cycle assessments, working toward the elimination of ozone depleting chemical usage in the manufacturing or refining process (where applicable), and conducting internal environmental auditing related to pollution control.

· Adopting standards and/or obtain certifications, where applicable, for product development and manufacturing processes such as but not limited to LEED, ISO 14001, Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Protocol, Green Seal, Environmental Choice and others.

· Using alternative fuel vehicles for delivery or transportation purposes and/or vehicles equipped with diesel emission control devices and operating such vehicles with guidance on anti-idling initiatives.

· Working with the Purchasing Department to develop and distribute information and/or materials to Commonwealth customers on the Awarded Bidder’s environmental practices and initiatives throughout the term of the Contract.

· Developing a plan to implement the recycling of materials used or produced in normal business operations.

· The Purchasing Department may award points to Bidders who provide evidence that measures and initiatives such as these are already in place within their operations, and/or for written proposals submitted with their Quote detailing a commitment to action contingent upon receipt of a Contract award. (See the Additional Environmentally Preferable Products / Practices form on COMMBUYS).

3.5 Compensation Structure/Pricing

Describe the overall compensation structure and the requirement for providing transparent prices, including firm fixed prices or provisions for adjustments. Compensation can be project based, unit based or capitated. Use additional cost information below only as applicable.

3.5.1 Cost Tables

Include a description of whether price will be per unit, hour, etc. Or reference Cost Tables. Include, commodities, Volume purchase discounts (VPD), Tiered discounts, Dock Delivery Discounts (DDD), Cost Plus Definition of cost - describe how it is measured and whether a percentage or amount is to be added to the cost as a mark-up. Is it supplier’s LIFO (Last In, First Out) inventory cost only or is overhead, delivery and burden included in the cost?

Bidder is to provide a cost breakdown for all deliverables.

See Environmental Section for Life Cycle Cost considerations to include where possible.

The Bidder is to describe and list suppliers, quote process and cost management, Methods, cost basis, such as supplier’s discount to Bidder based on annual volumes or one time purchases or “National Corporate Prices” from the suppliers/manufacturers and basis for complete life cycle costs.

Unscheduled updates to commodities/services/pricing process and approvals Scheduled or automatic price adjustments Price adjustments based on PPI (Producer Price Index) or CPI (Consumer Price Index) Fuel surcharge provisions

3.5.2 Labor rates or project based compensation

All or part of the service(s) available under this RFR and resulting contract may require the payment of prevailing wages pursuant to G.L. c. 149, Sections 26 through 27D (construction); Section 27F (trucks, vehicles and other equipment performing public works functions (non-construction); Section 27G (moving office furniture) and 27H (state cleaning contracts). The awarding authority has a legal obligation to request a prevailing wage schedule from the Department of Labor Standards (DLS) at www.mass.gov/dols and to ensure that annual updates are requested pursuant to G.L. c. 149 s. 27. In addition, bidders and proposers must agree to comply with the Prevailing Wage Law, as administered by the DLS. Questions regarding the Prevailing Wage Law may be answered by accessing the DLS website at www.mass.gov/dols or by calling the DLS Prevailing Wage Program at (617) 626-6953.

4 Other Terms:

4.1.1 Continued qualification based upon performance

4.1.2 Reporting

Contractors are responsible for compliance with all other contract reporting requirements including, but not limited to, Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) and other contract reports, as required by this contract.

4.1.3 Security and confidentiality

The Contractor shall comply fully with all security procedures of the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Agencies in performance of the Contract. The Contractor shall not divulge to third parties any confidential information obtained by the Contractor or its agents, distributors, resellers, subcontractors, officers or employees in the course of performing Contract work, including, but not limited to, security procedures, business operations information, personally identifiable information, or commercial proprietary information in the possession of the Commonwealth Agency.

4.1.4 Contract Management (Contractor’s interface with Commonwealth’s Contract Manager.

The “Purchaser” contact listed in the Master Blanket Purchase Order on COMMBUYS for this Contract is the Commonwealth Contract Manager. All Contract questions must be directed to the Commonwealth Contract Manager.

Change notification - Changes to the Contractor’s contact information, company name, legal address, payment address, tax identification number, authorized signatories, SDO-certification status, or EFT information must be promptly reported via email to the Commonwealth Contract Manager. In some cases additional paperwork will be required to effect the change.

Environmentally Preferable Products and Services - The department and Contractor(s) may establish a preference for Environmentally Preferable Products (EPPs) and/or negotiate during the Contract term to permit the substitution or addition of EPPs to the Contract when such products are readily available at a competitive cost and satisfy the department’s performance needs.

Report requirements & due dates Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Spending Report Identification and approval of subcontractors & joint ventures (see Subcontracting Policies and the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions) Advertising pre-approval Press releases Right to inspect place of business Audit requirements

4.1. 5 Failure to perform contractual obligations - as outlined in the Standard Contract Form, Terms and Conditions, and RFR failure to perform contractual obligations may result in the following termination, Suspension, Adding additional contractors, Cover/Replacement Costs, Liquidated Damages.

5 Audit

During the term of this Agreement and for a period of six years thereafter, the Executive Office Of Elder Affairs, its auditors, the Operational Services Division, the Office of the Inspector General or other authorized representatives shall be afforded access at reasonable times to Contractor's accounting records, including sales information on any system, reports or files, in order to audit all records relating to goods sold or services performed pursuant to this Agreement. If such an audit indicates that Contractor has materially overcharged The Executive Office Of Elder Affairs, then the Contractor shall remit the overcharged amount and be responsible for payment of any costs associated with the audit.

6 Evaluation criteria

Bidder scores will be used to rank Bidders and will determine which Bidders will proceed to subsequent stages of the evaluation and/or enter into negotiations with the Commonwealth to receive a Contract award.

6.1 Mandatory Requirements

Contractors must submit responses that meet all the submission requirements of the RFR. Only responsive proposals that meet the submission requirements will be evaluated, scored and ranked by the evaluation team according to the evaluation criteria. Additional information may be requested for evaluation purposes.

The awarding of this contract(s) will be based on, but not limited to the Evaluation Criteria listed in 6.3 of this document and that the bidder is an Approved Processor as certified by the United States Department of Agriculture and Massachusetts Department of Education, Food and Nutrition Services, in order to be considered eligible for the purposes of this RFR.

Mandatory Specifications must be met in order for a Bid to be evaluated and may be used to disqualify Bidders. In addition, certain mandatory specifications have desirable components to them that may be evaluated by the Purchasing Department. The Purchasing Department reserves the right, in its discretion, to determine if non-compliance with a Mandatory Specification is insignificant or can be easily corrected.

Failure to meet the requirements of a mandatory specification without providing an alternate that is acceptable to the evaluators may result in the disqualification of a Bidder's proposal.

6.2 Alternatives

A Quote which fails to meet any material term or condition of the Bid, including the submission of required attachments, may lose points or be deemed unresponsive and disqualified. Unless otherwise specified, Bidders may submit Quotes proposing alternatives which provide equivalent, better or more cost effective performance than achievable under the stated Bid specifications. These alternatives may include related commodities or services that may be available to enhance performance during the period of the Contract. The Quote should describe how any alternative achieves substantially equivalent or better performance to that of the Bid specifications.

The Purchasing Department will determine if a proposed alternative method of performance achieves substantially equivalent or better performance. The goal of this Bid is to provide the best value of commodities and/or services to achieve the goals of the procurement. (formerly Affirmative Market Plan) (minimum of 10% weight)

6.3 Evaluation Components

The following components will be some of the criteria considered by the SST when evaluating each Quote:

% Assigned 1 Pricing 25% 2 Nutrition Value 23% 3 Taste Testing 22% 4 Commitment of pricing for multiple years 8%

8 Discounts offered, i.e., volume, prompt payment, etc. 2%

6.3.1 Price

Indicate Prompt Pay Discounts (PPD)

6.3.2 Supplier Diversity Plan (formerly Affirmative Action Plan - (Minimum of 10% weight).

Bidders responding to this RFR are required to submit a Supplier Diversity Plan. Requirements for the Supplier Diversity Plan are included in Section 9.

6.3.3 Executive Order 509, Establishing Nutrition Standards for Food Purchased and Served by State Agencies

The chosen vendor(s) must be an approved USDA processor as approved by the Massachusetts Department of Education Food and Nutrition Services, (the Designate Agency of USDA commodities).

• Federal Commodity Food Programs

Agencies using food provided by the federal government are not required to meet the standards outlined in Section I of Executive Order 509. However, agencies accepting these foods must meet the nutrition standards for meals prepared outlined in Section II of Executive Order 509. Massachusetts elderly nutrition program has its standards established the processing standards in Appendix D , which apply to the US dietary guideline and The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

7. How to submit an electronic Quote

Only electronic Quotes will be accepted. All Quotes are to be submitted through COMMBUYS. Instructions outlining the Steps Bidders need to follow to Submit a Quote on COMMBUYS are listed in 14 – Appendix 7.

Bid Opening Date/Time (aka Deadline for Quotes) – Responses are due no later than June 12, 2014 at 3:00 PM and MUST be submitted electronically through COMMBUYS.

LATE QUOTES WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

Any Quote which fails to meet the submission requirements of the RFR will be found non-responsive without further evaluation unless the evaluation team, at its discretion, determines that the non-compliance is insubstantial and can be corrected. In these cases, the evaluation team may allow the vendor to make minor corrections to the submission.

8 Appendix 1 - Required terms for all RFRS General Procurement Information

8.1.1 Alterations

Bidders may not alter (manually or electronically) the Bid language or any Bid component files, except as directed in the RFR. Modifications to the body of the Bid, specifications, terms and conditions, or which change the intent of this Bid are prohibited and may disqualify a Quote.

8.1.2 Ownership of Submitted Quotes

The SST shall be under no obligation to return any Quotes or materials submitted by a Bidder in response to this Bid. All materials submitted by Bidders become the property of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and will not be returned to the Bidder. The Commonwealth reserves the right to use any ideas, concepts, or configurations that are presented in a Bidder’s Quote, whether or not the Quote is selected for Contract award.

Quotes stored on COMMBUYS in the encrypted lock-box are the file of record. Bidders retain access to a read-only copy of this submission via COMMBUYS, as long as their account is active. Bidders may also retain a traditional paper copy or electronic copy on a separate computer or network drive or separate media, such as CD or DVD, as a backup.

8.1.3 Prohibitions

Bidders are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee of the procuring Department or any member of the SST regarding this RFR except as specified in this RFR, and no other individual Commonwealth employee or representative is authorized to provide any information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this RFR. Bidders may contact the contact person using the contact information provided in the Header Information this Bid in the event that this RFR is incomplete or information is missing. Bidders experiencing technical problems accessing information or attachments stored on COMMBUYS should contact the COMMBUYS Helpdesk (see the document cover page for contact information).

In addition to the certifications found in the Commonwealth’s Standard Contract Form, by submitting a Quote, the Bidder certifies that the Quote has been arrived at independently and has been submitted without any communication, collaboration, or without any agreement, understanding or planned common course or action with, any other Bidder of the commodities and/or services described in the RFR.

8.2 Terms and Requirements Pertaining to Awarded Contracts

8.2.1 Commonwealth Tax Exemption

Invoices or invoices submitted to Massachusetts government entities must not include sales tax.

8.2.2 Contractor’s Contact Information

It is the Contractor’s responsibility to keep the Contractor’s Contract Manager information current. If this information changes, the Contractor must notify the Contract Manager by email immediately, using the address located in the Header Information of the Purchase Order or Master Blanket Purchase Order on COMMBUYS.

The Commonwealth assumes no responsibility if a Contractor’s designated email address is not current, or if technical problems, including those with the Contractor’s computer, network or internet service provider (ISP), cause e-mail communications between the Bidder and the SST to be lost or rejected by any means including email or spam filtering.

8.2.3 Publicity

Any Contractor awarded a contract under this Bid is prohibited from selling or distributing any information collected or derived from the Contract, including lists of participating Eligible Entities, Commonwealth employee names, telephone numbers or addresses, or any other information except as specifically authorized by the Purchasing Department.

9 Appendix 2 - RFR - Required Specifications

In general, most of the required contractual stipulations are referenced in the Standard Contract Form and Instructions and the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions (either version). However, the following RFR provisions must appear in all Commonwealth competitive procurements conducted under 801 CMR 21.00:

The terms of 801 CMR 21.00: Procurement of Commodities and Services (and 808 CMR 1.00: Compliance, Reporting and Auditing for Human and Social Services, if applicable) are incorporated by reference into this RFR. Words used in this RFR shall have the meanings defined in 801 CMR 21.00 (and 808 CMR 1.00, if applicable). Additional definitions may also be identified in this RFR. Other terms not defined elsewhere in this document may be defined in OSD’s Glossary of Terms. Unless otherwise specified in this RFR, all communications, responses, and documentation must be in English, all measurements must be provided in feet, inches, and pounds and all cost proposals or figures in U.S. currency. All responses must be submitted in accordance with the specific terms of this RFR.

Items with the text, " Required for POS Only" specify a requirement for Purchase of Service (POS) human and social services procured under 801 CMR 21.00, Procurement of Commodities or Services, Including Human and Social Services and 808 CMR 1.00, Compliance, Reporting and Auditing for Human and Social Service.

COMMBUYS Market Center. COMMBUYS is the official source of information for this Bid and is publicly accessible at no charge at www.commbuys.com. Information contained in this document and in COMMBUYS, including file attachments, and information contained in the related Bid Questions and Answers (Q&A), are all components of the Bid, as referenced in COMMBUYS, and are incorporated into the Bid and any resulting contract.

Bidders are solely responsible for obtaining all information distributed for this Bid via COMMBUYS. Bid Q&A supports Bidder submission of written questions associated with a Bid and publication of official answers.

It is each Bidder’s responsibility to check COMMBUYS for:

· Any amendments, addenda or modifications to this Bid, and

· Any Bid Q&A records related to this Bid.

The Commonwealth accepts no responsibility and will provide no accommodation to Bidders who submit a Quote based on an out-of-date Bid or on information received from a source other than COMMBUYS.

COMMBUYS Subscription. Bidders may elect to obtain a free COMMBUYS Seller subscription which provides value-added features, including automated email notification associated with postings and modifications to COMMBUYS records. However, in order to respond to a Bid, Bidders must register and maintain an active COMMBUYS Seller subscription account.

All Bidders submitting a Quote (previously referred to as Response) in response to this Bid (previously referred to as Solicitation) agree that, if awarded a contract: (1) they will maintain an active seller account in COMMBUYS; (2) they will, when directed to do so by the procuring entity, activate and maintain a COMMBUYS-enabled catalog using Commonwealth Commodity Codes; (3) they will comply with all requests by the procuring entity to utilize COMMBUYS for the purposes of conducting all aspects of purchasing and invoicing with the Commonwealth, as added functionality for the COMMBUYS system is activated; (4) Bidder understands and acknowledges that all references to the Comm-PASS website or related requirements throughout this RFR, shall be superseded by comparable requirements pertaining to the COMMBUYS website; and (6) in the event the Commonwealth adopts an alternate market center system, successful Bidders will be required to utilize such system, as directed by the procuring entity. Commonwealth Commodity Codes are based on the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC).

The COMMBUYS system introduces new terminology, which bidders must be familiar with in order to conduct business with the Commonwealth. To view this terminology and to learn more about the COMMBUYS system, please visit the COMMBUYS Resource Center.

Multiple Quotes. Bidders may not submit Multiple Quotes in response to a Bid unless the RFR authorizes them to do so. If a Bidder submits multiple quotes in response to an RFR that does not authorize multiple responses, only the latest dated quote submitted prior to the bid opening date will be evaluated.

Quote Content. Bid specifications for delivery, shipping, billing and payment will prevail over any proposed Bidder terms entered as part of the Quote, unless otherwise specified in the Bid.

Supplier Diversity Program (SDP). Massachusetts Executive Order 524 established a policy to promote the award of state contracts in a manner that develops and strengthens Minority and Women Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) that resulted in the Supplier Diversity Program in Public Contracting. M/WBEs are strongly encouraged to submit responses to this RFR, either as prime vendors, joint venture partners or other type of business partnerships. Similarly, Executive Order 546 established the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprise (SDVOBE) Program to encourage the participation of businesses owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans in all areas of state procurement and contracting, thereby including them in the SDP. All bidders must follow the requirements set forth in the SDP section of the RFR, which will detail the specific requirements relating to the prime vendor’s inclusion of M/WBEs and/or SDVOBEs. Bidders are required to develop creative initiatives to help foster new business relationships with M/WBEs and/or SDVOBEs within the primary industries affected by this RFR. In order to satisfy the compliance of this section and encourage bidder’s participation of SDP objectives, the Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Plan for large procurements greater than $150,000 will be evaluated at 10% or more of the total evaluation. Once an SDP commitment, expressed as a percentage of contract revenues, is approved, the agency will then monitor the contractor’s performance, and use actual expenditures with SDO certified M/WBE contractors and the Center for Veterans Enterprise certified SDVOBEs to fulfill their own SDP expenditure benchmarks. M/WBE and SDVOBE participation must be incorporated into and monitored for all types of procurements regardless of size; however, submission of an SDP Plan is mandated only for large procurements over $150,000.

Unless otherwise specified in the RFR, the following SDP forms are required to be submitted by the deadlines noted below in order to meet the mandatory participation requirements of the SDP:

Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Resources:

· Resources available to assist Prime Bidders in finding potential Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) and Women Business Enterprises (WBE) partners can be found at: www.mass.gov/sdp

· Resources available to assist Prime Bidders in finding potential Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprise (SDVOBE) partners can be found on the Operational Services Division’s SDO webpage at: www.mass.gov/sdo

· The Operational Services Division’s Supplier Diversity Program offers training on the SDP Plan requirements. The dates of upcoming trainings can be found at: http://www.mass.gov/anf/budget-taxes-and-procurement/procurement-info-and-res/osd-events-and-training/osd-training-and-outreach.html In addition, the SDP Webinar can be located on the SDP website at www.mass.gov/SDP.

Supplier Diversity Program Subcontracting Policies. In addition to the Subcontracting Policies (See Subcontracting Policies section below and see Section 9, Subcontracting By Contractor, in the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions) that apply to all subcontracted services, agencies may define specific required deliverables for a contractor’s SDP Plan, including, but not limited to, documentation necessary to verify subcontractor commitments and expenditures with Minority- or Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprises (SDVOBE) for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing commitments made in a contractor’s Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Plan.

Agricultural Products Preference (only applicable if this is a procurement for Agricultural Products) - Chapter 123 of the Acts of 2006 directs the State Purchasing Agent to grant a preference to products of agriculture grown or produced using locally grown products. Such locally grown or produced products shall be purchased unless the price of the goods exceeds the price of products of agriculture from outside the Commonwealth by more than 10%. For purposes of this preference, products of agriculture are defined to include any agricultural, aquacultural, floricultural or horticultural commodities, the growing and harvesting of forest products, the raising of livestock, including horses, raising of domesticated animals, bees, fur-bearing animals and any forestry or lumbering operations.

Best Value Selection and Negotiation. The Strategic Sourcing Team or SST (formerly referred to as Procurement Management Team or PMT) may select the response(s) which demonstrates the best value overall, including proposed alternatives that will achieve the procurement goals of the department. The SST and a selected bidder, or a contractor, may negotiate a change in any element of contract performance or cost identified in the original RFR or the selected bidder’s or contractor’s response which results in lower costs or a more cost effective or better value than was presented in the selected bidder’s or contractor’s original response.

Bidder Communication. Bidders are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee of the procuring department or any member of the SST regarding this RFR except as specified in this RFR, and no other individual Commonwealth employee or representative is authorized to provide any information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this RFR. Bidders may contact the contact person for this RFR in the event this RFR is incomplete or the bidder is having trouble obtaining any required attachments electronically through COMMBUYS.

Contract Expansion. If additional funds become available during the contract duration period, the department reserves the right to increase the maximum obligation to some or all contracts executed as a result of this RFR or to execute contracts with contractors not funded in the initial selection process, subject to available funding, satisfactory contract performance and service or commodity need.

Costs. Costs which are not specifically identified in the bidder’s response, and accepted by a department as part of a contract, will not be compensated under any contract awarded pursuant to this RFR. The Commonwealth will not be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by bidders responding to this RFR.

Debriefing. Required for POS Only. This is an optional specification for non-POS RFRs. Non-successful bidders may request a debriefing from the department that issued the RFR. Department debriefing procedures may be found in the RFR. Non-successful POS bidders aggrieved by the decision of a department must participate in a debriefing as a prerequisite to an administrative appeal.

Debriefing/Appeals: Administrative Appeals to Departments. Required for POS Only. Not applicable to non-POS bidders. Non-successful bidders who participate in the debriefing process and remain aggrieved with the decision of the department may appeal that decision to the department head. Department appeal procedures may be found in the RFR.

Debriefing/Appeals: Administrative Appeals to OSD. Required for POS Only. Not applicable to non-POS bidders. Non-successful bidders who participate in the department appeal process and remain aggrieved by the selection decision of the department may appeal the department decision to the Operational Services Division. The basis for an appeal to OSD is limited to the following grounds:

The competitive procurement conducted by the department failed to comply with applicable regulations and guidelines. These would be limited to the requirements of 801 CMR 21.00 or any successor regulations, the policies in the OSD Procurement…