Market Research Survey 2026 AL-FL Panhandle Zone.pdf

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MARKET RESEARCH

Produce Long Term Contracts: The Government is conducting market research for Full Line Fresh Fruit and Vegetables (FF&V) in Alabama and Florida Panhandle Zone to be re-solicited. The solicitation will be for the support of both Department of War ("DoW" Troop) and Non-DoW USDA (School) customers.

There are two attached excel files. Attachment 1 (Group 1a: AL Troops, Group 1b: AL Schools, Group 2a:

FL Panhandle Troops, Group 2b: FL Panhandle Schools) is a list of items required for the contract and Attachment 2 (Group 1a: AL Troops, Group 1b: AL Schools, Group 2a: FL Panhandle Troops, Group 2b: FL Panhandle Schools) is a list of all proposed delivery points for the zone. If interested, please answer the questions below, as well as provide any additional feedback/comments you may have.

$ 28,000,000.00 $ 70,000,000.00 $210,000,000.00

24 month period of performance:

5 year contract estimate:

300% maximum value:

Any questions feel free to contact:

Melisia Riley, (445)737-6339, melisia.riley@dla.mil and Amy Paradis, (445)737-0937, amy.paradis@dla.mil

Company Name:

Cage Code:

# of Employees:

Point of Contact:

Phone:

Fax:

E-Mail:

1. Would you be interested in bidding and delivering a Full Line FF&V to ALL customers listed in the attached customer list?

Yes No

a. If YES, please provide brief description on how/why you would be able to service all customers.

b. If NO, would you be able to service any of the listed customers? If so, which, ones? If not interested at ALL, please indicate below.

paa0868 Sticky Note Rejected set by paa0868 paa0868 Sticky Note None set by paa0868

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c. What would be your firm’s minimum dollar delivery requirement, if any?

d. Is your firm currently operating as a commercial FF&V distributor offering a full line of FF&V products?

Yes No

e. Have you done business with the Federal Government in the past? If yes, when, how long, and what areas?

f. Are you registered in the System for Award Management ("SAM.GOV" - https:// www.sam.gov)? And do you maintain a valid Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act ("PACA") License?

Small Business Large Business

g. Is your firm registered on the DLA Internet Bid Board System ("DIBBS" -https:// www.dibbs.bsm.dla.mil/) and the System for Award Management website (https:// www.SAM.gov)? If not, you must register for future solicitations.

Yes No

h. Is your firm a small or large business (small businesses have <700 employees)?

Yes No https://www.uscontractorregistration.com/

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2. Can you provide any feedback on the layout of the zone? As it stands, this contract would support all Troops and Schools in the Alabama and Florida Panhandle Zone.

a. Is this feasible? Explain any limitations.

b. Would you need to subcontract any part of the contract? If so, what areas would have to be subcontracted out? For the purposes of this future solicitation, subcontracting refers to the need to contract with a similarly situated vendor in order to support all requirements.

3. Please provide any additional comments/information about your company that you feel may be beneficial to help us better understand your firm’s capabilities to deliver to all the customers listed.

Also, confirm your company’s ability to use the two systems required for cataloging, invoicing and ordering: Subsistence Total Order and Receipt Electronic System (“STORES”, an Electronic Data Interchange system used for Troops) and Fresh Fruit & Vegetables Order & Receipt System (“FFAVORS”, a web-based system used for Schools and Tribes).” (More information on FFAVORS and STORES is listed on pages 5 and 6).

4. What percentage of Fresh Fruit & Vegetable items are procured from Small Businesses?

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Please e-mail all responses and feedback to melisia.riley@dla.mil and amy.paradis@dla.mil by April 9th, 2026.

We appreciate your time and consideration for replying to the questionnaire.

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Subsistence Total Order & Receipt Electronic System (STORES)

DoW Customers will order using the Subsistence Total Order and Receipt Electronic System (STORES) catalog. STORES EDI information can be found in attachment. The vendor is responsible for establishing and maintaining the STORES catalog in accordance with attachment.

1. Accessed via the Internet, STORES is the Government’s translator/ordering system that is capable of accepting orders from any of the Services, i.e. Army, Air Force, Navy, or Marines, individual ordering systems and translating them into an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) format. In addition, this information is passed to DLA Troop Support for the purposes of contractor payment and customer billing.

2. Customers will be able to order all of their requirements through STORES. The System will transmit orders to the vendor and DLA Troop Support.

3. The awardee shall be required to interface with STORES and must be able to support the following EDI transactions:

810 Electronic Invoice 820 Payment Voucher Information 832 Catalog (Outbound - Vendor to DLA Troop Support) 850 Purchase Order 861 Receipt

997 Functional Acknowledgement

4. The vendor shall have access to the Internet and be able to send and receive electronic mail (email).

5. Unit prices must be formatted not more than two (2) places to the right of the decimal point in all ordering catalogs.

6. Vendors are required to utilize the Government’s item descriptions on all electronic ordering catalogs (832 transmissions) as well as on its invoices, delivery ticket to customer and 810 invoice transaction set.

7. The offeror may be required to transmit 810, 832, and 997 transactions, prior to award and during proposed evaluations, in order to demonstrate its EDI capability.

8. The vendor will utilize the DLA Troop Support invoice reconciliation process, or other such systems as may become available, to the maximum extent, towards the goal of correcting invoices early and facilitating the payment process.

9. In the event the STORES system or the vendors interface is not operational, the vendor must provide alternate ways for the customer to order (e.g., by fax by phone, pick up orders, etc.)

A complete description of these transaction sets is included in the “EDI Implementation Guidelines” has been provided as an attachment.

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FFAV ORS We b The vendor who receives the potential award may be required to use the ordering system

FFAVORS WEB.

Non-DoW customers (USDA school and reservation customers) will utilize the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Order Receipt System (FFAVORS) Web catalog. The successful awardee will be provided a User ID and password to Log in and receive orders through FFAVORS Web, a web-based ordering system. The vendor is responsible for establishing and maintaining the FFAVORS WEB catalog.

1. Accessed via the Internet. FFAVORS WEB is the Government’s ordering system for USDA Customers. It is capable of accepting orders from the schools.

2. Customers will be able to order all of their requirements through FFAVORS WEB. The system will transmit orders to the vendor and DLA Troop Support.

3. In the event the FFAVORS WEB system is not operational, the vendor must provide alternate ways for the customer to order (e.g., by fax, by phone, pick up orders.)

4. The vendor shall have access to the Internet and be able to send and receive electronic mail (email).