DTCC2602-Cafeteria_qa.pdf

DTCC2602 – CAFETERIA: Cafeteria Services for the Owens Campus

Questions and Answers posed for contract number DTCC2602 – CAFETERIA

• Please provide the cafeteria sales for the last 12 months (Spring 2025, Summer 2025, Fall 2025).

Cafeteria sales are maintained by the vendor and the College has not received sales information.

• Please provide the catering sales for the last 12 months (Spring 2025, Summer 2025, Fall 2025).

The College spends approximately $80,000 annually on catering services for College-sponsored events.

• How many operating days in the calendar year for the cafeteria and the separately for the coffee shop?

The link to the College’s Academic Calendar is below. The College is amendable to negotiating an operating schedule for the cafeteria and the coffee shop.

https://www.dtcc.edu/media/dtcc-website/content-assets/documents/academic-calendar-important-dates.pdf

• What is the College’s operating financial preference and would the College entertain a management fee program?

The College is amendable to consider whatever fee arrangements you wish to propose.

Please provide a detailed description in your proposal.

• Page 6, II Scope of work, A. Overview: “vendor shall provide all equipment” & “Vendor to cooperate with ordering agency to insure state of the art material”:

please explain- is the vendor responsible to outfit the cafeteria and/or coffee shop with equipment, small wares, etc.? Who currently owns the equipment?

Equipment currently in either the cafeteria or coffee shop are the property of the College and shall be maintained and/or replaced as deemed necessary by College administration.

An inventory of equipment will be provided with the awarded contract. Any additional material or equipment that the vendor deems necessary to operate the cafeteria and/or coffee shop should be purchased by the vendor and will be the property of the vendor.

https://www.dtcc.edu/media/dtcc-website/content-assets/documents/academic-calendar-important-dates.pdf https://www.dtcc.edu/media/dtcc-website/content-assets/documents/academic-calendar-important-dates.pdf

• Page 6, B. Background: Are the 4100 active student enrollments full time or part time? How many students are enrolled in the workforce development classes and for how many operating days during the year?

For the current Spring semester, 25% of students are enrolled in 12 or more credits.

Workforce Development has approximately 800 students registered and operate on a different schedule than the academic calendar. The College operates 50 weeks a year, closing for 2 weeks over the Winter holidays.

• Please provide a layout for the cafeteria (either a DAD drawing or some other design format) as well as the coffee shop.

Please see the jpg images at the end of this document.

• Page 7, Owens Child Development Center: How many operating days in the academic year?

The CDC operates according to the same schedule as the College.

• Page 8, D. Detailed Requirements: what “value added” donations are provided by the current vendor?

An example of a “value added” donation would be an in-kind donation of food and/or beverage for a specific event, notably the annual Starry Starry Night Gala which is the annual Owens Campus fundraiser for student scholarship needs.

• Page 8, D. Detailed Requirements: What should be included on the “Pricing Plan Bid Form (appendix B)? The page is blank. Are you looking for menu pricing and/or financial terms?

In the vendor’s response, the response should outline any financial terms of operating the cafeteria and/or coffee shop. As the RFP outlines later on in Appendix B, “If the Vendor has a current pricing list/menu/etc., it may attach those in addition to supplying any other requested information. Also, please be sure to include in the pricing proposal whether the respondent intends to provide services for the cafeteria/catering only, coffee shop only, or cafeteria/catering and coffee shop.”

• Page 9, H. Discounts: What is currently being paid by the College to the vendor where discounts could apply?

An example would be non-food catering charges such as linens, set-up, clean-up, delivery fee, etc., for College sponsored catering events.

• Page 31, Usage Report, Attachment B: Please provide the last 12 months of usage reports.

This information has not been collected to date under the current contract.

• Page 24, 15. Prices: Are you requesting the vendor to hold menu prices firm for 5 years? Please explain what is meant by “rates”?

No, the College is not requesting that the vendor hold menu prices firm for 5 years. The College would request advance notification for menu price changes.

The College would request that any management fees would be held consistent for the 5-year term; however, the College is also amendable to proposals that do have some slight variance in structure.

• Page 33, Method of Payment, Progress Report: please provide the last 12 months’ progress reports.

That information is not available under the current contract.

• Page 33: please provide the usage reports showing the past 12 months of “green items” procured.

No items have been purchased needing this certification.

• Page 36, b. Termination for Convenience: If the vendor were to make an investment in the food service, under the termination for convenience would the investment be protected by a buy-back arrangement?

The College would be willing to discuss a buy-back arrangement in a contract arising out of this Request for Proposal.

• Page 50, Attachment 4: Do we need to use these forms or answer the questions in the proposal?

These specific forms are not required to answer the questions providing all questions are accounted for in the response submitted. If you choose to not complete the form, please indicate on that page that your answers are within your proposal.

• Page 62, Service days, Hours, Academic Calendar: What is the current cafeteria operating hours during the academic year: Mon-Thurs & Friday? What are the operating hours for summer sessions and student breaks and what services are available?

As noted in Section II. Scope of Work, C. Statement of Needs, “The café is open year-round, with service hours generally from 8am-7pm Monday-Thursday and 8 am - 1 pm Fridays for mutually agreed upon dates/times. The College reserves the right to request additional hours as needed, also at mutually agreed upon times (early evening, etc.).

These times are negotiable as long as they meet the needs of the campus community and are communicated and approved by campus administration.”

Historically, summer and spring/fall break hours have been 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.

• What are the current students, faculty and staff headcount for summer sessions and student breaks?

During summer semesters they are approximately 65 full time instructors and 200 staff members on campus daily. During the 2025 summer semester there was approximately 1,400 student enrolled and attending classes.

• Do the students have any type of meal plan(s)? If so, please describe the plan(s), whether it is mandatory or voluntary, and the number of students enrolled in the plan(s) for the Fall of 2025 and Spring 2026.

Meal plans are not available to students.

• Page 63, Menu Development: are Kosher and halal menu items currently available?

Menus vary based on the current vendor. The College would welcome any additional options for our students.

• Page 63: Equipment: who owns the equipment? Who owns the small wares? Is there any current vendor owned equipment that would be removed?

Equipment currently in the cafeteria and coffee shop is the property of the College and will be maintained and/or replaced as deemed necessary by College administration. An inventory of equipment will be provided with the awarded contract. Any additional equipment that a vendor would request for the cafeteria and/or coffee shop would need to be recommended and reviewed with the College leadership team for approval prior to purchasing, if the College is going to own the equipment. If the selected vendor would like to purchase additional equipment, the equipment will remain the property of the vendor.

• Page 64, Financial Responsibility of Vendor: What financial responsibility does the College have?

The College is responsible for prompt payment of any invoice submitted for services provided by the vendor. The standard is within 30 days of receipt of an invoice.

In addition, the College shall provide utilities, excluding internet and phone services, as well as dumpster removal, and maintenance of College-owned equipment, including, but not limited to, fire suppression system, hood system, and grease traps.

• Can you please provide pictures of the storeroom at Java 101?

At this time, the storeroom within Java101 has been repurposed for our Student Needs Pantry and will not be available.

• Main Cafeteria: who owns the POS system (College or vendor)?

The vendor is responsible for providing the POS system to be used.

• Pathways Program: please describe the Pathways Program: o Number of participants o Food service revenue from program o Number of weeks & number of days per week o How does billing work?

The Pathways Program is a partnership between the College and the K-12 Schools in Delaware. The number of weeks and number of days per week would vary and would follow the academic calendar. The number of participants also varies. The billing for this program is not relevant to this RFP for cafeteria services.

• Does the College host any camps and/or conferences? If so: o Number of camps and conferences per year o Food service offered o Food service revenue

The College facilities are available for external rentals. On average, there are about 25 external events per year, with most utilizing catering services for their attendees.

Attendance at these events range from 150-300 attendees.