RFP 1014214 SF1449 Continuation.docx

RFQ 1232SA20R0044 / 1014214 Page 2 of 24

PART I -- THE SCHEDULE

SECTION A: SOLICITATION / CONTRACT FORM.

1.1 Standard Form 1449

Solicitation / Contract / Order for commercial items form incorporated.

SECTION B: SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES/COSTS.

2.1 Brief Description of Services

The USDA seeks expertise to continue developing links between the IRI scanner data and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) food group and nutrient data. In addition, USDA seeks expertise to estimate prices for foods reported consumed by participants in the What We Eat in America, the dietary component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (WWEIA/NHANES), using IRI scanner data, and develop retail ingredient quantities for the foods in WWEIA/NHANES.

2.2 FAR 52.216-1 Type of Contract

The Government awards a firm-fixed price contract. Work shall be invoiced on a monthly basis for actual accepted hours delivered to the Government.

2.3 Severable Services

The services acquired under this contract are non-severable in nature and shall be fully funded at time of award.

2.4 Commercial Services

The services specified in this contract/order have been determined to be commercial.

2.5 Consideration and Payment (FFP)

The total fixed price of this order is $ Will be completed Upon Award. Payment shall be made upon the delivery and acceptance of all required items listed in Section C.

SECTION C: DESCRIPTION / SPECIFICATIONS / STATEMENT OF WORK.

3.1 Statement of Work as per Attached

1. (Base) Pilot study: By October 31, 2020, develop a plan to guarantee on-time delivery of prices suitable for estimating the USDA Food Plans. This entails establishing a detailed plan for the remaining tasks. Offeror should review past methods and conduct a pilot test linking and establishing conversion factors for at least one food category (PPC). Offeror should also describe intended modifications to the price and ingredient tools.

2. (Option Task) By June 1, 2021, develop a single Purchase to Plate Crosswalk (PPC), and a Purchase to Plate Price Tool (PPPT) and Purchase to Plate Ingredient Tool (PPIT) between IRI 2015 and 2016 data for both InfoScan and the Consumer Network, and the FNDDS/WWEIA 2015-16. Supporting materials to be delivered by March 31, 2022.

3. (Option Task) By December 1, 2021, develop a single Purchase to Plate Crosswalk (PPC), Purchase to Plate Price Tool (PPPT) and Purchase to Plate Ingredient Tool (PPIT) between IRI 2017 and 2018 data for both InfoScan and the Consumer Network and the FNDDS/WWEIA 2017-18. Supporting materials to be delivered by March 31, 2022.

4. (Option Task) By January 15, 2021, revise PPPT developed in optional task 3 to use 2018 data to compute national average prices.

5. (Option Task) By March 31, 2022. Describe and apply lessons learned in the development of the PPC, PPPT and PPIT to develop potential machine learning or other tools that could be used in future updates of the PPC, PPPT and PPIT.

SECTION D: PACKAGING AND MARKING

NA

SECTION E: INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

5.1 AGAR 452.246-70 Inspection and Acceptance

ERS’ COR and TPOCs

SECTION F: DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

6.1 Period of Performance

Date of award through 3/31/2022.

6.2 The Federal Government observes the following days as holidays.

*If the date falls on a Saturday, the Government holiday is the preceding Friday. If the date falls on a Sunday, the Government holiday is the following Monday.

(b) In addition to the days designated above as holidays, the Government may observe additional days in accordance with 5 USC 6103.

SECTION G: CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA.

7.1 Authorities of Government Personnel

Notwithstanding the Contractor’s responsibility for total management during the performance of this contract, the administration of this contract will require maximum coordination between the Government and the Contractor. The following individuals will be the Government’s points of contact during the performance of this contract:

Contracting Officer (CO)

TBD

Contract Specialist (CS)

TBD

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)

TBD

Note: The Contracting Officer is the only individual authorized to modify the contract.

7.2 Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) Authority

a) Performance of work under this contract must be subject to the technical direction of the Contracting Officer's Representative identified above, or a representative designated in writing. The term "technical direction" includes, without limitation, direction to the contractor that directs or redirects the labor effort, shifts the work between work areas or locations, fills in details and otherwise serves to ensure that tasks outlined in the work statement are accomplished satisfactorily.

(b) Technical direction must be within the scope of the specification(s)/work statement.

The Contracting Officer's Representative does not have authority to issue technical direction that:

(1) Constitutes a change of assignment or additional work outside the specification(s)/statement of work;

(2) Constitutes a change as defined in the clause entitled "Changes";

(3) In any manner causes an increase or decrease in the contract price, or the time required for contract performance;

(4) Changes any of the terms, conditions, or specification(s)/work statement of the contract;

(5) Interferes with the contractor's right to perform under the terms and conditions of the contract; or

(6) Directs, supervises or otherwise controls the actions of the contractor's employees.

(c) Technical direction may be oral or in writing. The Contracting Officer's Representative shall confirm oral direction in writing within five work days, with a copy to the Contracting Officer.

(d) The contractor shall proceed promptly with performance resulting from the technical direction issued by the Contracting Officers, Representative. If, in the opinion of the contractor, any direction of the Contracting Officers, Representative, or his/her designee, falls within the limitations in (b), above, the contractor shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer no later than the beginning of the next Government work day.

(e) Failure of the contractor and the Contracting Officer to agree that technical direction is within the scope of the contract shall be subject to the terms of the clause entitled "Disputes."

7.3 Invoice Preparation

The Contractor shall submit an electronic invoice through the Department of Treasury's Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) service. The Contractor shall invoice no more frequently than monthly for all work completed and accepted during the preceding month. This is a mandatory requirement initiated by the U.S. Department of Treasury and you can find more information at this website https://www.ipp.gov/index.htm. Please make sure that your company has registered at https://www.ipp.gov/vendors/enrollment-vendors.htm to establish your account.

In accordance with FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Items, a proper invoice must include the following items:

FAR 52.212-4(g) Invoice

(1) The Contractor shall submit an original invoice and three copies (or electronic invoice, if authorized) to the address designated in the contract to receive invoices. An invoice must include—

(i) Name and address of the Contractor;

(ii) Invoice date and number;

(iii) Contract number, contract line item number and, if applicable, the order number;

(iv) Description, quantity, unit of measure, unit price and extended price of the items delivered;

(v) Shipping number and date of shipment, including the bill of lading number and weight of shipment if shipped on Government bill of lading;

(vi) Terms of any discount for prompt payment offered;

(vii) Name and address of official to whom payment is to be sent;

(viii) Name, title, and phone number of person to notify in event of defective invoice; and

(ix) Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). The contractor shall include its TIN on the invoice only if required elsewhere in this contract.

(x) Electronic funds transfer (EFT) banking information.

(2) Invoices will be handled in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act (31 U.S.C. 3903) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) prompt payment regulations at 5 CFR Part 1315.

In accordance with OMB Memorandum, M-11-32, Agencies shall make payments to small businesses as soon as practicable, with the goal of making payments within 15 days of receipt of a proper invoice. If a small business contractor is not paid within this (15 day) accelerated period, the contractor will not be given a late-payment interest penalty. Interest penalties, as prescribed by the Prompt Payment Act, remain unchanged by means of this memorandum. All small businesses shall label all invoices as "Small Business."

Additionally, in accordance with OMB Memorandum, M-12-16, all prime contractors are encouraged to disburse funds received from the Federal Government to their small business subcontractors in a prompt manner. To assist prime contractors in expediting contractor payments to small business subcontractors, Agencies shall, to the full extent permitted by law, temporarily establish an earlier, accelerated date for making agency payments to all prime contractors. Consistent with OMB Memorandum M-11-32 above, Agencies shall have a goal of paying all prime contractors within 15 days of receiving proper documentation. In an effort to support small business growth, drive economic activity and job creation, the Contractor is encouraged to accelerate payments to their small business subcontractors.

In accordance with the requirements of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, all payments under this order will be made by electronic funds transfer (EFT). The Contractor shall provide financial institution information to the Finance Office designated above in accordance with FAR 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer - System for Award Management.

SECTION H: SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.

8.1 Section 508 Clause - Contractor Compliance

All EIT procured through this contract must meet the applicable accessibility standards at 36 CFR 1194, unless an agency exception to this requirement exists. (36 CFR 1194 implements Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and is viewable at http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm).

The following standards have been determined to be applicable to this contract:

______1194.24 Video and multimedia products.

______1194.25 Self contained, closed products.

______1194.26 Desktop and portable computers.

“The standards do not require the installation of specific accessibility-related software or the attachment of an assistive technology device, but merely require that the EIT be compatible with such software and devices so that it can be made accessible if so required by the agency in the future.”

PART II – CONTRACT CLAUSES.

SECTION I: CONTRACT CLAUSES.

9.1 FAR 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this address: http://acquisition.gov/far/index.html.

9.2 FAR Contract Clauses

FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services

The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days.

52.242-15 Stop Work Order

Work under this contract has been determined NOT TO BE an Excepted Activity in the absence of an appropriation or CR. Activities under this contract do not support the preservation and protection of life and property and do not support law enforcement, health and safety functions. In the event of shutdown, you will be notified by the cognizant contracting officer (CO) of the Government status and directed to suspend performance/stop work under this contract. For details on the procedures, see Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) FAR Clause 52.242-15, Stop Work Order, as included in this contract.

(a) Confidential information, as used in this clause, means --

(1) information or data of a personal nature, proprietary about an individual, or (2) information or data submitted by or pertaining to an organization.

(b) In addition to the types of confidential information described in (a)(1) and (2) above, information which might require special consideration with regard to the timing of its disclosure may derive from studies or research, during which public disclosure of primarily invalidated findings could create an erroneous conclusion which might threaten public health or safety if acted upon.

(c) The Contracting Officer and the Contractor may, by mutual consent, identify elsewhere in this contract specific information and/or categories of information which the Government will furnish to the Contractor or that the Contractor is expected to generate which is confidential. Similarly, the contracting Officer and the Contractor may, by mutual consent, identify such confidential information from time to time during the performance of the contract. Failure to agree will be settled pursuant to the "Disputes" clause.

(d) If it is established that information to be utilized under this contract is subject to the Privacy Act, the Contractor will follow the rules and procedures of disclosure set forth in the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and implementing regulations and policies, with respect to systems of records determined to be subject to the Privacy Act.

(e) Confidential information, as defined in (a)(1) and (2) above, shall not be disclosed without the prior written consent of the individual, institution or organization.

(f) Written advance notice of at least 45 days will be provided to the Contracting Officer of the Contractor's intent to release findings of studies or research, which have the possibility of adverse effects on the public or the Federal agency, as described in (b) above. If the Contracting Officer does not pose any objections in writing within the 45 day period, the contractor may proceed with disclosure. Disagreements not resolved by the Contractor and Contracting Officer will be settled pursuant to the "Disputes" clause.

(g) Whenever the Contractor is uncertain with regard to the proper handling of material under the contract, or if the material in question is subject to the Privacy Act or is confidential information subject to the provisions of this clause, the Contractor shall obtain a written determination from the Contracting Officer prior to any release, disclosure, dissemination, or publication.

(h) The provisions of paragraph (e) of this clause shall not apply when the information is subject to conflicting or overlapping provisions in other Federal, State or local laws.

452.237-75 Restrictions Against Disclosure

(a) The Contractor agrees, in the performance of this contract, to keep all information contained in source documents or other media furnished by the Government in the strictest confidence. The Contractor also agrees not to publish or otherwise divulge such information in whole or in part in any manner or form, or to authorize or permit others to do so, taking such reasonable measures as are necessary to restrict access to such information while in the Contractor's possession, to those employees needing such information to perform the work provided herein, i.e., on a "need to know" basis. The Contractor agrees to immediately notify in writing, the Contracting Officer, named herein, in the event that the Contractor determines or has reason to suspect a breach of this requirement.

(b) The Contractor agrees not to disclose any information concerning the work under this contract to any persons or individual unless prior written approval is obtained from the Contracting Officer. The Contractor agrees to insert the substance of this clause in any consultant agreement or subcontract hereunder.

PART III -- LIST OF DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS AND OTHER ATTACHMENTS.

SECTION J: LIST OF ATTACHMENTS.

1--Statement of Work.

2--Data sharing letter for offerors

3--Third Party Agreement

SECTION L: INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS OR RESPONDENTS.

Instructions to Offerors

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and no other written solicitation will be issued.

Offer Submission Responses must include the following items. Submission of a proposal that does not contain all items requested below may result in elimination from consideration for award.

1. Response may be submitted in contractor format and shall include: (1) Company name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and FAX number; (2) RFQ / RFP number; (3) Contractor DUNS Number and Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code, and Tax Identification Number (4) Signed acknowledgements of amendments (applicable only if any amendments are issued against this solicitation) NOTE: All contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database as required by FAR 4.1102 at the time of submission. Information on registration may be obtained by calling 866-606-8220 or via the internet at https://www.sam.gov.

2. Quotes to be submitted in 2 separate volumes: 1 Technical and 2 Price.

3. Technical Quote Instructions. The technical proposal will be used to make an evaluation and arrive at a determination as to whether the quote will meet the requirements of the Government. Therefore, the technical quotes must present sufficient information to reflect a thorough understanding of the requirements and a detailed, description of the techniques, procedures and program for achieving the objectives of the specifications/statement of work. Quotes which merely paraphrase the requirements of the Government's specifications/statement of work, or use such phrases as "will comply" or "standard techniques will be employed" will be considered unacceptable and will not be considered further.

4. Pricing Quote Instructions: The pricing quote to include a Firm-Fixed-Price total cost to complete the facilitation services. Along with any related FFP travel costs (if any).

5. Evaluation Criteria: Proposals shall be evaluated as follows:

Evaluation Criteria: Proposals shall be evaluated as follows:

A. Experience working with IRI InfoScan and Consumer Network data. (30 points)

B. Experience working with the USDA datasets including FNDDS, FPED/FPID, WWEIA/NHANES. (30 points)

C. Experience solving difficult linking problems involving text strings that are not exact match. (30 points)

D. Experience conducting research using IRI scanner data. (5 points)

E. Quality and experience of personnel (5 points)

6. Offerors shall submit quotes through email to MARCOS.OCADIZ@ARS.USDA.GOV , for receipt no later than the date and time specified. Only those offers received by this date and time will be considered for award.

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these addresses: http://farsite.hill.af.mil/vffara.htm

Statement of Work: Linking USDA nutrition data to IRI scanner data

General Information Scope The USDA seeks expertise to continue developing links between the IRI scanner data and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) food group and nutrient data. In addition, USDA seeks expertise to estimate prices for foods reported consumed by participants in the What We Eat in America, the dietary component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (WWEIA/NHANES), using IRI scanner data, and develop retail ingredient quantities for the foods in WWEIA/NHANES.

Specifically, The USDA seeks to include additional years of both the IRI data and the USDA food composition and nutrient data. Expertise is sought to update these links and tools to estimate prices and ingredients for the following years:

· 2015-16: Link IRI 2015, 2016 to the FNDDS 2015-16 including conversion factors, and develop tool to estimate prices and ingredients for WWEIA/NHANES 2015-16

· 2017-18: Link IRI 2017, 2018 to the FNDDS 2017-18 including conversion factors, and develop tool to estimate prices and ingredients for WWEIA/NHANES 2017-18

Intended Use and Purpose The USDA uses the IRI household data, called the Consumer Network, and IRI retail sales data, called InfoScan, in a variety of purposes including estimating prices, preparing price forecasts, understanding retailer strategies, and modeling consumer behavior. To allow for expanded research on healthy food purchases, USDA has established a mechanism (Linkages) to import USDA food composition and nutrient data into the IRI InfoScan data (the Purchase to Plate Crosswalk -- PPC) and estimate prices for foods reported consumed by participants in the WWEIA/NHANES (the Purchase to Plate Price Tool -- PPPT). The PPPT is used to create national average prices to estimate the market basket for the USDA Food Plans, including the Thrifty Food Plan. An extension of the PPPT is the Purchase to Plate Ingredient Tool (PPIT) which provides retail quantities for the foods reported consumed by WWEIA/NHANES participants. This is used to update the cost of the USDA Food Plans each month, using the CPI’s for food.

Background USDA has expanded the research capacity of the IRI data to include expanded nutrition information from USDA, allowing researchers to measure how well food purchases follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans by calculating HEI scores based on purchased food. This requires that researchers be able to easily assess the quantities of food purchased in the same units USDA uses in making dietary recommendations to consumers (e.g., the food pattern equivalents found in the USDA Food Pattern Equivalent Database or Food Pattern Ingredient Database (FPED/FPID)). Under USDA contract AG-32SB-12-0011 / AG-32SB-D-14-0281, and GS00F009DA - 1232SB18F0322, USDA established the PPC which includes links between the FNDDS and the IRI data, as well as conversion factors to convert the as purchased weight to the weight in the linked USDA code. The conversion factor includes the yield factor to account for the refuse weight included in the purchase weight and any cooking loss or gain when the USDA code represents a cooked product. While some conversion factors can be established over a broad group of items (e.g. crackers have a conversion factor of 1), others must be established at the IRI item level (e.g. whole carrots and baby carrots have a different conversion factor because whole carrots have skins that many people peel and inedible ends).

There are currently two versions of the PPC:

· PPC 2013:

· Links IRI InfoScan 2013 and FNDDS 2011-12

· Conversion factors for IRI items representing 95 percent of InfoScan sales available to USDA at the barcode level

· PPC 2015

· Links IRI InfoScan 2015 and FNDDS 2013-14

· Links IRI Consumer Network 2015 and FNDDS 2013-14

· Conversion factors for IRI items representing 95 percent of InfoScan dollar sales available to USDA at the barcode level or 95 percent of Consumer Network purchases in dollars In building these versions of the PPC, USDA learned that a combination of semantic, probabilistic, and manual matching works well, but this is not a requirement for establishing new matches. While matches established under the previous round provide a starting point, they are not necessarily correct in the new round. This is because the FNDDS revises the list of included foods each cycle, making some previously established matches incorrect in the new round. Previous matches need to be reviewed to ensure a new FNDDS code does not represent a better match for a UPC. In addition, ERS estimates there are about 200,000 IRI barcodes with sales in the “95% of sales group” every year, and 250,000 in a two-year cycle (e.g. 2017 and 2018). The previous versions of the linking database included significantly more UPCs (2015 version includes 525,000 links). USDA also learned that the linking process is best done by breaking down both the IRI and FNDDS data into linking categories. The 2015 PPC development used the IRI “category” column as a basis of the matches. Another possibility is to use the ERS Food Purchase Groups.

This is a complicated linking project, both because there are no common identifiers between the two datasets, and because there are significant changes to the input data with each new set of data. Expertise is sought on improvements to methods since the input data changes every two years.

USDA also seeks expertise in providing a method for researchers to estimate food prices for WWEIA. These prices show the actual cost of consuming foods by taking into account food refuse and cooking factors and combining ingredients together to price mixed dishes. This is known as the Purchase to Plate Price Tool (PPPT). In addition, the Purchase to Plate Ingredient Tool (PPIT) estimates the purchase weight in grams of ingredients, based on a given quantity of a WWEIA/NHANES food. USDA uses the PPPT to generate prices to update the USDA Food Plans, as well as conduct research using the WWEIA/NHANES.

There are currently two versions of the PPPT and one version of the PPIT

· PPPT 2013: for WWEIA/NHANES 2011-12

· uses the PPC 2013 and 2013 InfoScan to estimate prices

· PPPT 2015: for WWEIA/NHANES 2013-14

· Uses the PPC 2015 and 2015 InfoScan to estimate food prices

· Uses the PPC 2015 and 2015 Consumer Network to estimate food prices (does not include Consumer Network random weight products)

· PPIT 2015

· Uses the 2015 PPPT to estimate the purchase weight of ingredients for a given quantity of a WWEIA food Available Resources from USDA

1. Technical Bulletin on PPC. Available at:

https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=92570

2. Draft Technical Bulletin on PPPT – This is a partial draft of a future ERS publication. It includes methodology used to create the PPPT, but results and validation is withheld.

3. Documentation and statistical properties reports on the IRI data available to USDA. These can be found at:

https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-markets-prices/food-prices-expenditures-costs/using-scanner-data/

4. The USDA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) 15-16, is a database of foods, their nutrient values, and weights for typical food portions. The primary purpose is to estimate the nutrient profile of foods in the WWEIA/NHANES study. In the past, the FNDDS drew nutrient data from the National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR) which has been replaced by Food Data Central. To work with this change, the FNDDS is making changes so that it can continue to provide a broad nutrient profile for WWEIA/NHANES. The 2015-16 documentation discusses what the 8-digit codes represent. Although not yet released, offerors should assume that changes between the FNDDS 15-16 and 17-18 will be like those between FNDDS 13-14 and 15-16. Please reference the FNDDS ingredient file for the categories that were revised in 15-16. The FNDDS is available at:

https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md-bhnrc/beltsville-human-nutrition-research-center/food-surveys-research-group/docs/fndds-download-databases/

5. The USDA Food Patterns Equivalents Database (FPED) and the USDA Food Patterns Equivalents Ingredient Database (FPID) converts foods and beverages in the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies to 37 USDA Food Pattern (FP) components. The FPID includes SR codes in the FNDDS-SR Links file. FPED was formerly known as the MyPyramid Equivalents Database (MPED).

https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md-bhnrc/beltsville-human-nutrition-research-center/food-surveys-research-group/docs/fped-overview/

6. Sample IRI product dictionaries will be available to offerors without current access to the IRI data through the NORC Data Enclave after signing the appropriate agreement letter in Appendix A or B. IRI provides detailed characteristics and nutrition information for all UPCs for which IRI records retail sales or household purchases. The product dictionaries contain detailed characteristics for 100% of UPCs and nutrition information for 20-65% of UPCs depending on the nutrient.

7. Data files and computer programs associated with the 2013 and 2015 PPC and the 2013 and 2015 PPPT, and the 2015 PPIT. Items will be available to offerors via a secure file transfer after signing the appropriate agreement letter in Appendix A or B. These files also contain proprietary data, and include the decision log, user’s guides, delivery memos, the current set of matches, conversion factors, sample code, and price tool (SAS code and associated support files).

8. Documentation associated with the 2015 ERS Food Purchase Groups (FPG) linked to IRI data. The links between UPCs in the product dictionaries for 2016-2018 and the FPG’s will be available by December 10, 2020. Documentation describes what the groups are. These may be useful in either establishing matching categories, or establishing forms (e.g. fresh, frozen, canned, dry mix) of products for the PPIT.

9. Computer programs and matching tables used to generate the match between IRI 2013 and FNDDS 11-12 and IRI 2015 and FNDDS 13-14. Offerors will be given access through a secure file transfer after signing the agreement in the Appendix. These files also contain proprietary data. Note: The code does not contain the code used to build the matching tables, using semantic and manual matching. Creating the tables is most of the work and requires revision each time.

10. Food Intakes Converted to Retail Commodities Database (FICRCD), released by USDA/ARS converts foods in the FNDDS to 65 retail level commodities. This may provide support in establishing the crosswalk. However, the latest version is for WWEIA/NHANES 2007-8 so use may be limited.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=23887#

Task List

6. (Base) Pilot study: By October 31, 2020, develop a plan to guarantee on-time delivery of prices suitable for estimating the USDA Food Plans. This entails establishing a detailed plan for the remaining tasks. Offeror should review past methods and conduct a pilot test linking and establishing conversion factors for at least one food category (PPC). Offeror should also describe intended modifications to the price and ingredient tools.

7. (Option Task) By June 1, 2021, develop a single Purchase to Plate Crosswalk (PPC), and a Purchase to Plate Price Tool (PPPT) and Purchase to Plate Ingredient Tool (PPIT) between IRI 2015 and 2016 data for both InfoScan and the Consumer Network, and the FNDDS/WWEIA 2015-16. Supporting materials to be delivered by March 31, 2022.

8. (Option Task) By December 1, 2021, develop a single Purchase to Plate Crosswalk (PPC), Purchase to Plate Price Tool (PPPT) and Purchase to Plate Ingredient Tool (PPIT) between IRI 2017 and 2018 data for both InfoScan and the Consumer Network and the FNDDS/WWEIA 2017-18. Supporting materials to be delivered by March 31, 2022.

9. (Option Task) By January 15, 2021, revise PPPT developed in optional task 3 to use 2018 data to compute national average prices.

10. (Option Task) By March 31, 2022. Describe and apply lessons learned in the development of the PPC, PPPT and PPIT to develop potential machine learning or other tools that could be used in future updates of the PPC, PPPT and PPIT.

Technical Requirements Note: All documentation, data, computer source code and configuration files used to conduct these tasks become property of USDA and at USDA’s discretion may be shared with researchers and the general public. USDA will not share files containing proprietary IRI data beyond those authorized to use it.

1. Pilot (Base)

a. Review past methods considering new data to determine which methods should be improved for higher quality matches and WWEIA/NHANES food prices.

b. Conduct pilot study to test linking methods.

c. Prepare a detailed plan to

i. complete optional tasks 2-3 by the following dates:

1. PPC, PPPT and PPIT using IRI data from 2015 and 2016 and FNDDS and WWEIA 2015-16 by June 1, 2021

2. PPC, PPPT and PPIT using IRI data from 2017 and 2018 and FNDDS and WWEIA 2017-18 by December 1, 2021

ii. Plan should also detail dates when USDA will need to review draft deliverables, decision logs and/or specifications. Regular meetings with USDA staff are an acceptable replacement for draft deliverables. The final deadline (December 1, 2021) is fixed and cannot be delayed.

iii. Standards for the PPC, PPPT and PPIT are listed below. Standards are the same for each version.

2. Purchase to Plate Crosswalk (PPC) – optional task 2 and 3

a. Crosswalk consists of at a minimum:

i. IRI product dictionary entry (UPC, UPC2, or GTIN) matched to a USDA food code contained in the FNDDSingred table (including 8-digit FNDDS code, and SR (NDB-No))

ii. Conversion factor to convert the purchase form (e.g., with refuse and possibly raw) to the form that the item is matched (without refuse and possibly cooked)

iii. Other optional information to assist researchers and policy makers understand the data

iv. Computer programs to assist researchers to integrate the FNDDS nutrient data and the FPED/FPID data into IRI data. Programs should be written in at least one of the following languages: STATA, R, python, SQL, and/or SAS. Previous versions used SAS, but IRI data users have access to all these languages.

v. User’s Guide for general user

vi. Documentation of methods and assumptions for general user

vii. Note: UPC, UPC2, and GTIN are all character fields and the leading zeros must be maintained

b. Crosswalks cover the following IRI Product Dictionaries:

i. PD_POS_all – isolate UPCs to prescribed years based on column “year”

ii. PD_perish_all – isolate UPCs to prescribed years based on column “year”

iii. PD_PL_all – isolate UPCs to prescribed years based on column “year”

iv. PD_RWpanel (Note: UPCs in this product dictionary remain constant, so previous matches only need to be verified against new FNDDS.)

c. Crosswalk consists of all UPCs representing 95 percent of sales dollars for each IRI category from each single year (e.g. 2015) of InfoScan and 95% of purchases from each year of the Consumer Network

i. Create item codes by combining UPCs that differ only by package size or package type (e.g. can, carton, jar)

ii. 95% of sales calculated by item code

iii. 95% of sales calculated within the IRI category.

d. Links should be consistent with previous decision log.

e. Matching should have an error rate of less than 5 percent by matching category. An error consists of:

i. A better match exists

ii. An item is coded “no match” when a match exists

iii. An item is matched, but “no match” is more appropriate

f. The following deliverables delivered by March 31, 2022:

i. Group unmatched IRI items within the 95 percent cut-off into groups that likely have similar Food Pattern Equivalent Data for possible creation of new codes

ii. Decision log

iii. All computer source code, configuration files and full documentation. Test code to ensure all required data files are available. There should be enough information that a user can recreate the PPC starting with IRI data available on NORC and the public download of the FNDDS. Source code must be written in a language available on NORC. It is acceptable to note dates of data pull to account for possible changes to the IRI data that might change the PPC. Instructions should include how tables are created and how manual matching is done. Programs should include final correction table to correct and update matches and to correct errors discovered during the creation of the PPPT and PPIT.

3. Purchase to Plate Price Tool (PPPT) – optional task 2, 3 and 4

a. Price Tool consists of at a minimum:

i. Set of recipes that use the items in the PPC to estimate prices for foods reported consumed in WWEIA/NHANES survey.

ii. Computer programs and configuration files written in at least one of the following languages: STATA, R, SQL, python, and/or SAS to allow users to use recipes to estimate prices from the IRI data.

iii. User’s Guide for general user

iv. Documentation of methods and assumptions written for the general user

v. Other optional information to support researchers

b. Two versions of the price tool for each optional task 2, 3, and 4

i. Use all or a user-defined subset of IRI InfoScan calculate prices for WWEIA/NHANES

ii. Use all or a user-defined subset of IRI Consumer Network to calculate prices for WWEIA/NHANES.

c. Recipes:

i. Suggested starting point is the FNDDS ingredient file, but since designed to estimate the nutrient profile many “recipes” require modification to estimate prices

ii. FNDDS ingredient file may include a variety of preparation methods for a single FNDDS code to form a “statistical recipe”. Where possible this should be maintained in the price estimation

iii. Assume that all WWEIA foods are prepared at home

iv. Most preparation times should be about 30 minutes. Preparation times based on professional judgement since times are not available in the FNDDS. In the case of “statistical recipes”, at least one preparation method should have a preparation method of 30 minutes or less.

d. The tool should estimate prices for foods reported ingested at least 10 times by WWEIA/NHANES participants in the respective year.

e. Price tool is not expected to use IRI products sold by “counts” when the IRI data are not sufficient to determine a weight (such as some individual bakery items), but should include items sold by “count” when the data are sufficient to determine a weight (such as eggs). The tool is also not expected to include products where no quantity purchased is recorded. However, for the InfoScan version, the price tool is expected to use random weight items where the amount sold is recorded in pounds.

f. National average prices should be estimated without anomalies, including but not limited to:

i. products that are similar should have a similar price. For example, school lunch pizza should have similar price to store-bought pizzas that are similar.

ii. The price for a WWEIA code in one year should be like prices in another year for the same code, unless there is a documented change in the WWEIA code. Price changes that are more than what would be expected under inflation should be documented.

g. If package size differs between the UPC description field and the column in the IRI data, use the UPC description size.

4. Purchase to Plate Ingredient Tool - optional task 2 and 3

a. Purpose of the Ingredient Tool is to define the types and quantities of foods that are purchased to make foods in WWEIA/NHANES. It is used in estimating the USDA food plans to translate the model solution to the market basket groups in the published report. The market basket quantities are also used to adjust the cost of the USDA Cost of Food at Home each month following a set of Consumer Price Indices (CPI)’s for food.

b. Ingredient Tool consists of at a minimum:

i. Purchase weight of each ingredient for a given quantity of an FNDDS code covered by the PPPT

ii. User’s guide for general user

iii. Documentation including methods and assumptions for general user

iv. Other optional information that may be useful to the users

c. Ingredient is defined as:

i. a product available in retail food stores, but not at the barcode or item group level. For example, a can of tomatoes, bag of spinach leaves, frozen lasagna

d. Ingredients should be separated by forms such as fresh, frozen, canned, ready-to-serve or ready-to-heat

e. ERS Food Purchase Groups may be useful in sorting UPCs used to estimate prices for the recipes into different forms, but this is not a requirement

5. Lessons Learned and future directions – optional task 5

a. Use results of creation of the two versions of the PPC to develop improvements to the methods used including, but not limited to additional machine learning tools to improve accuracy of automated matches and identify matches in need of human review. Estimate time and cost savings if new methods were implemented in future updates.

b. Provide computer source code, configuration files, documentation and user’s guides for improved methods. Source code language must be approved by USDA.

c. Document additional lessons learned from development of the PPPT and PPIT.

Key Deliverables

Table Notes: SOW – Statement of Work TR – Technical Requirements

Government Furnished Equipment The government will not furnish equipment for this work. However, the budget should include data access to the proprietary IRI data. For more information please see “Data Access: at:

https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-markets-prices/food-prices-expenditures-costs/using-scanner-data/

Security and Data Rights USDA purchases the proprietary scanner data to address policy and programmatic issues of interest to USDA. Offerors will be granted access to the data after signing a Third-Party Agreement with IRI (see “Data Access” at the above link). The agreement cannot be modified, and offerors must be willing to sign it within 1 week of the contract award. Offerors may not use the data for any other purpose than to conduct the tasks outlined in this SOW.

All documentation, data and computer programs used to conduct these tasks become property of USDA and at USDA’s discretion may be shared with researchers and the general public. USDA will not share files containing proprietary IRI data beyond those authorized to use it.

Place of Performance The offeror is expected to perform duties outside of USDA office space, other than in-person meetings.

Period of Performance The period of performance is from date of award through March 31, 2022.

Appendix

A. Data sharing letter for offerors

B. Third Party Agreement

Appendix A: Agreement letter to view Linkages Related Files Outside of the NORC data enclave.

Please copy this letter onto your organization’s letterhead. It should be signed by someone in your organization able to make financial decisions.

Date

TO: David Dudgeon Data Management and IT coordinator Food Economics Division Economic Research Service, USDA David.Dudgeon@usda.gov

From:

Subject: Use of IRI Data

I understand that all Information Resources, Inc. (“IRI”) Licensed Materials provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) and shared with its collaborator(s), including primary collaborator and research assistants and students, are owned by IRI. Failure to comply with these restrictions could result in legal action by IRI. The Linkages background files contain IRI data. The files will be made available by ERS using a secure file sharing system.

Access to the IRI data is restricted.

Name and title of official:

Signature:

Appendix B: IRI Third Party Agreement Template

This template is provided for review and will be considered for selection of contract award.