GRO38 Prime Grocers -Bidders Response Form - General Information Final ~1.docx

Bid Number: COMMBUYS NEW Bid Number: Reopened #BD-1080-OSD03-SRC01-35096 Original #BD-19-1080-OSD01-OSD10-31803 - Prime Grocers GRO38 Prime Grocers GRO38 Bidder Response Form Response Form The following requested information is a mandatory requirement of the Request for Response (RFR). Failure to complete all sections of this form may be cause for the bid to be deemed as non-responsive and may result in disqualification.

Once completed, save the Word file (do not convert to PDF must be submitted as a Word file) with the following name "Company Name_GRO38PrimeGrocers_Bidder Response Form" for submission.

General Information

Legal Company Name

Address (Street, City, State, Zip)

Main Phone Number

Fax Number

Website

Number of Years in Business, including the year the business was established

Name, Title

Phone Number

Fax Number

Email

Name, Title

Phone Number (business hours)

Phone Number (non-business hours)

Fax Number

Email

Name, Title

Phone Number (business hours)

Phone Number (non-business hours)

Email

1. Pricing Information Pricing information must be submitted on the “Price List” provided in COMMBUYS. Bidders may bid on any or all items identified on the “Market Basket List Prime Grocers”. Please do not convert this file to “PDF” only the excel format is acceptable. To ensure that all required information is provided please reference the attached “Checklist” provided on COMMBUYS.

Please Note: Market Basket Pricing for Food Products will remain firm for six (6) months and Market Basket Pricing for fruits and vegetable will remain firm for three (3) months.

2. Bidders Percentage % Markup The bidders proposed prices must be based upon the brand manufacturer’s cost plus the proposed % mark-up. The manufacturers prices must be the most advantageous price to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, referring to the pricing a product at net pricing to reflect any and all discounts, allowances, deviated prices, rebates and/or bill backs negotiated by the company on the Commonwealths behalf or by others with prior approval of the SSST, inclusive of all charges. No additional delivery charges will be allowed except as referenced in other sections of the RFR.

Bidder(s) must provide a percent (%) mark-up, which will be used to determine pricing during the term of the initial contract, as described above. The figure must be included in Market Basket. This mark-up % will not change during the life of the contract, unless renegotiated. % Mark-up for all items in the food category must be the same. Additionally, % Mark-up for all items in the non-food category must be the same.

Market Basket Pricing file attached with bid on COMMBUYS Yes _______ No _________

Mark Up offer __________% bid

Opportunity Buys (Bidder) Category As an added category Bidders may bid Opportunity Buys alone, these items or commodities will be referred to as opportunity purchases that manufacturers may offer as an over run, volume discounts or other special pricing circumstances.

A list of recent available items with pricing information for reference and review by the Strategic Sourcing Team.

Submitted ______yes ________no

Opportunity Buys (Bidders/Contractors) The bidder/contractor offering Opportunity Buys will agree to charge the Commonwealth no more than 1.5 % mark-up to make opportunity purchases.

Mark Up offer __________% bid

3. Business Experience Bidders must have a minimum 5 years’ experience in the food business. Bidders are required to submit with their bid response a detailed company profile providing company background information, experience and qualifications, etc. with a copy of the company organization chart. This information may be added below.

Provide details:

4. References Bidders MUST submit contact information for three (3) references on the Business Reference Form which is provided on COMMBUYS under the “Required Forms” attachment. The SSST will make a reasonable effort to contact the references given, but if the SSST is unable to obtain a reference, the bidder’s score will be negatively impacted. The SSST reserves the right to utilize information gathered from references, historical information or other sources when scoring responses. A past history of poor performance may negatively impact a bidder’s score.

Bidders are also required and MUST provide at a minimum three (3) letters of reference from an institutional account, or from the largest customers.

5. Financial Stability Financial stability including bankruptcy, litigation and contract defaults - Financial information must be provided with bid response addressing gross annual revenue for most recently completed fiscal year, last bankruptcy and current/pending litigation, detail description of information regarding company bankruptcy proceeding and/or name changes and/or pending litigation that have occurred within the last five (5 years) and any defaults on contracts if applicable.

Has bidder submitted financial information as requested with bid response?

Yes ______

No_______

6. Organization Chart Submit with response an attach copy of your organization chart that shows the structure of management that will service this contract.

7. Delivery Fleet Describe below or attach a separate sheet, the delivery fleet that will be used in serving this contract. Include the number of vehicles, models, average age, fuel requirements and refrigeration and freezer capabilities.

Provide delivery fleet details:

Do you use alternative fuel vehicles? Yes ___________ No _____________ If yes, please provide details below:

Are you participating in EPA Smartways partnership? Yes _________ No ____________ If yes, please provide details below:

8. Delivery System Describe your ordering and delivery system, including electronic capabilities.

Provide details:

9. Distribution Centers List below or attach a separate sheet a list of where your distributions centers are located that will service this contract?

Provide details:

10. License and inspection Attach copies of your license and most recent Dept. of Public Health (DPH) Inspections?

11. Retail and Institutional Experience Please list the number of retail and/or institutional accounts that your company has experience with?

Provide details:

12. Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP)

13. Agricultural Products Preference

What percentage of the product you supplied last year was sourced from within the state?

Provide details:

Please provide a list of Prime Grocers products that are provided from local New England company sources over the course of a year.

Provide details:

14. Locally Sourced In order to provide a selection of fresh and healthy products on the contract, it is desirable that bidder(s) partner with one or more local/regional farms. Locally produced food shall mean food that is produced by a privately or cooperatively owned enterprise and;

· for produce, it is produced and processed at a facility located within a 250-mile radius of the city/county and procured from a farm that grosses $5 million/year or less;

· for meat or poultry that it is produced and processed at a facility located within a 500 mile radius of the city and procured from a farm or a company that grosses $50 million/year or less.v

Does your company use locally/regionally sourced produce, meat or poultry?

Yes _______ No _______

If yes, bidders are required to provide details below or as a separate attachment on how your company complies

The SSST encourages bidders/contractors to develop and provide educational materials with regard to locally/regionally grown foods that would be distributed to actual customers to encourage the use of locally grown products. Does bidder provide this service?

Yes _______ No _______

If yes, bidders are required to provide details below or as a separate attachment on how your company complies

15. Certified Organic /Documented Sustainably Grown In order to offer a broader selection of fresh and healthy food products on contract, it is desirable that bidder(s) partner with one or more, certified organic growers/farms (as defined by the US Department of Agriculture) or with farms that have documented sustainably grown product (e.g., using Integrated Pest Management Practices or no pesticides) to provide a selection of “sustainably grown” food products. Such food items may include, but not be limited to, product, fruits, meat, poultry and other fresh or frozen foods.

Does your company offer Certified Organic Foods? Yes _______ No _______

If yes, bidders are required to provide details on products offered that are certified organic.

Does your company offer sustainably grown products? Yes _______ No _______

If yes, bidders are required to provide details on products offered that are sustainably grown.

The SSST encourages bidders/contractors to develop and provide educational materials with regard to organically grown/documented sustainably grown foods that would be distributed to actual customers to encourage the use of these products. Does bidder provide this service? Yes _______ No _______

If yes, bidders are required to provide details below or as a separate attachment on how your company complies with this requirement

16. Fair Trade It is desirable that bidders offer Fairtrade certified products. Fairtrade certified products refer to products that have been certified by Fairtrade USA, Ecocert Fair, Trade Certified, Fairtrade America, Fair for Life, FairWild, Hand in Hand, Equitable Food Initiative or Food Justice Certified.

Does your company offer Fair Trade certified products? Yes _______ No _______

If yes, bidders are required to provide a list of products that are Fairtrade certified either below or on a separate attachment.

17. Nutritional Standard and Labeling Nutritional Standards: Executive Order (EO) 509 is a directive signed by the Governor that requires state agencies that provide a package of services, which include foods and beverages, to clients who are dependent on the state to follow specific nutrition standards when contracting for the purchase of foods and beverages. To ensure compliance please refer to Executive Order 509 for detailed information.

State agencies that are impacted by EO509 are required to purchase food exclusively from the vendor chosen through the RFR, the vendor must be required to offer foods that allow the state agencies to comply with EO509. The EO509 Nutrition Standards are based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) which was completed in 2010. Evidence based research demonstrates that healthy foods provide the nutrients to improve overall health and to prevent chronic disease.

The Strategic Sourcing Services Team (SSST) feels that there are three (3) services that, if available by bidder(s), would greatly enhance the implementation and support for EO509.

Outlined below are the desirable Vendor Qualifications that each bidder MUST respond to with details and description:

Does your company provide nutritional products and labeling? Yes _______ No________ If yes, please provide a list either as an attachment or include the list of available product in the section identified on the “Price List” bid submission.

Employee Registered Dietitians (RD’s) on staff that is knowledgeable in food procurement and food preparation that would be available to provide technical assistance to eligible entities that are impacted by the EO509. The focus on the technical assistance would be on menu planning, menu analysis and healthy cooking using the EO509 Nutrition Standards.

Does your company have a registered Dietitian (RD) on staff? Yes _______ No _______ If yes, please describe and propose how bidders, would with community agencies, be providing such details as the number of hours/months, available software for menu planning and analysis.

If no, please provide details on how your company would work with the SSST to develop within the first twelve (12) months of the contract.

Develop a unique graphic icon (i.e. heart) which would be added to the electronic food ordering list which would quickly identify those foods which meet the EO509 nutrition standards. This would greatly enhance the ability of agencies to quickly identify and order the healthy food options.

Can your company develop and implement a graphic icon which would be added to the electronic ordering guide which identities those foods which meet the EO509? Yes_____ No ______ If yes, please provide specific details below:

If no, please provide details on how your company would work with the SSST to develop within the first twelve (12) months of the contract.

18. Dock Delivery Discounts (DDD) A bidder may receive additional evaluation points if the bidder offers a dock delivery discount equal to or greater than 2%. If dock delivery is exercised by the eligible entity then the discount must be reflected on the invoice upon billing. If offer is available please provide details below.

If yes, provide details:

19. Volume Purchase Discount (VPD) A bidder may receive additional evaluation points if the bidder offers a volume purchase discount percentage (%) off based upon the total dollar size or a total quantity size for an order with one delivery location.

If yes, provide details:

20. Tiered Discounts Bidders that can offer Tiered Discounts must provide detail information of the Tiered Discounts offers being made available under the RFR for review by the SSST. Any bidder(s) that receives an award as a result of this RFR must make available on a monthly basis their tier discount offers to user departments.

If yes, provide details:

21. Time Limited Specials Bidders that can offer Time Limited Special must provide detail information of the Time Limited Specials being offered.

If yes, provide details:

22. Added Value Options Please list any additional added value option offers that will be made available if awarded a statewide contract. Details added value offers may be submitted below or as an attachment.

If yes, provide details:

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