RFP# 2024-04-09 Vending Services.pdf

NORTHSHORE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 417

VENDING SERVICES RFP# 2025-05-15

3330 MONTE VILLA PARKWAY, BOTHELL, WA 98021

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

DUE: May 15, 2025 by 10 AM

Notice is hereby given that proposals will be received by the Northshore School District No. 417, Bothell, WA, hereinafter referred to as District, from qualified Bidders for district-wide vending services for snacks and beverages. The District is requesting proposals to replace existing vending machines. The scope of work will include, but not be limited to, supplying USDA smart-snack compliant items where required, maintenance and support of vending machines, installation of new machines, relocation when needed, tracking of and sending commissions, 4as well as removal at end of contract. Vendor approved products will be sold in vendor provided machines.

• Proposals are due by 10:00 AM, May 15, 2025.

• Estimated expense to District: None

• Each proposal shall be in accordance with the Request for Proposal (RFP) document. The

Northshore School District reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, and to waive any informalities or irregularities in the RFP process. The Request for Proposal document(s) are available at https://www.nsd.org/our-district/departments/business-services/purchasing/business.

Small Businesses and Minority and Women- Owned Businesses are encouraged to respond.

Advertisements

• Daily Journal of Commerce (DJC) Seattle published: May 11, 2025 and May 18, 2025

• WEBS portal: https://pr-webs-vendor.des.wa.gov/

• OMWBE: https://omwbe.wa.gov/small-business-assistance/bids-contracting-opportunities

• Northshore School District website: https://www.nsd.org/our-district/departments/business-services/purchasing/business https://www.nsd.org/our-district/departments/business-services/purchasing/business https://pr-webs-vendor.des.wa.gov/ https://omwbe.wa.gov/small-business-assistance/bids-contracting-opportunities

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION DESCRIPTION PAGE NUMBER

Part I Overview 4

Part 2 General Instructions 4-5

Parts 3-4 Scope, Content, General Terms 6-8

Part 5 Instructions for Bid Submittal 8

Part 6 Evaluation, Award 9-12

Attachment A Company Information and References Form 13-14

Attachment B Bid Certification Form 15

Attachment C Debarment Form 16-17

Attachment D Wage Certification Form 18

Attachment E Cost Proposal Form 19

Attachment F Cooperative Purchasing Authorization 20

Exhibit A Sample Bid Award Contract 21-25

Exhibit B Northshore SD Building Locations 26

PART 1 – OVERVIEW

Northshore School District No. 417 (District) was founded in 1959 and is located in Bothell, WA.

Over 22,000 students are currently served amongst 36 schools.

There are approximately 49 (forty-nine) vending machines distributed throughout the District. Some vending machines at secondary school sites are owned, operated, and stocked by District Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) as an alternate lunch resource for students.

District is seeking vending resources for machines not supported by FNS throughout the District that are placed in designated areas within school buildings, such as outside of gym, and include staff lounges; as well as locations at administrative office buildings. Snacks and/or beverages for non-FNS machines are to be sold through the awarded vendor provided machines. The intent is to award a single contract to the awarded provider in order to ensure consistency in services throughout the District, compliance with contract, equitable commission rates for all machines, and that all items within student accessible locations are compliant with Federal nutrition guidelines.

The District reserves the right to add, delete, or relocate machine locations over the course of the contract. District location addresses provided in EXHIBIT B.

1.01 OBJECTIVES: District is seeking a vending service provider that can provide the District with product variety, low cost to customer, responsive customer service to support individual vending units, provide commission to schools, as well as maintain Smart Snack/USDA Federal food guidelines in student accessible areas. The District intends to award a contract for 3-years, with the option to annually renew after initial term.

1.02 DEFINITION SMART SNACK COMPLIANCE: Smart Snack means food items that meet the nutritional standards set by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for snacks sold in schools.

The term is most commonly used in relation to snacks sold in school vending machines, cafeterias, and snack bars. A guide to Smart Snacks in School may be found through this link, https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/guide-smart-snacks-school.

1.03 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: No district employee may employ or use any person, money, or school property under the employee’s official supervision, control or direction for the private gain of that employee or another. Purchasing decisions are made on the basis of objectivity and shall not be influenced by friendships or other personal relationships.

PART 2 – GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

2.01 Northshore School District (“District”) is requesting quotes/proposals from qualified bidders to replace existing vending machines, and to manage, support, and provide exceptional customer service for machines.

2.02 Bidder shall submit their proposal through the secure Mailfile link provided at https://mailfile.nsd.org/filedrop/bids. Ensure “Subject” line indicates RFP# 2025-05-15 Vending https://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/guide-smart-snacks-school https://mailfile.nsd.org/filedrop/bids

Services. It is the sole responsibility of the Bidder to see that its proposal is received at the designated location by the designated time. No hard copies of Proposals will be accepted.

2.03 District intends to award a single contract to the responsive and responsible Bidder whose proposal offers the best overall value to the District. Additional information about scoring of proposals can be found in Section 5 below.

2.04 The term of this contract will run from August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2028 and may be extended annually after initial term upon mutual consent of both parties.. The successful Bidder must certify that all of the services proposed are readily available and that District will not incur costs for the duration of the contract period and any optional extension terms.

2.05 Distribution of this RFP or receipt of any proposal shall not constitute a commitment by the District to any Bidders. If it is determined that the submitted proposals are not economically beneficial to the District or for other business reasons, the District may, at its sole discretion, reject all proposals or waive informalities in the request for proposal process.

2.06 The following is a draft schedule of procurement activities related to this RFP:

Date Activity

April 11, April 18

DJC ads

April 29, 2025

OPTIONAL ZOOM MEETING or Last Day to Submit Questions or Requests for Clarifications . Zoom link:

https://nsd.zoom.us/j/2329147853?pwd=SXJrcDdwdGxiSnlWVXpCUUFERFlwZz09&omn=87962227870&from=add on

Meeting ID: 232 914 7853 Passcode: Purchasing

TBD Publish addenda as necessary

May 15, 2025 Bid Due Date

Evaluation and Review

ASB Students and possible samples

May 29, 2026

Notice of Intent to Award (All Bidders Notified)

Board Meeting date

June 9, 2025

Board Agenda - Contract Awarded – transition phase

8/01/2025 Contract Period Begins (August To allow transition and ready for new school year

District reserves right to adjust timeline https://nsd.zoom.us/j/2329147853?pwd=SXJrcDdwdGxiSnlWVXpCUUFERFlwZz09&omn=87962227870&from=addon https://nsd.zoom.us/j/2329147853?pwd=SXJrcDdwdGxiSnlWVXpCUUFERFlwZz09&omn=87962227870&from=addon

PART 3 – SCOPE OF SERVICES AND REQUIREMENTS

3.01 Minimum qualifications include but are not limited to:

The Vendor agrees to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations and to obtain and maintain any and all current permits and licenses necessary to provide items awarded as a result of this solicitation.

• Submittal of bidder response per RFP instructions

• All required documents signed and included in response

• Have a current WA State Business license and Unified Business Identifier # (UBI)

• Vendor is not debarred from receiving government funds

• Been in the vending business for a minimum of 3 years, preferably in K-12 environment

• Provide references from comparable sized accounts with a large footprint/number of buildings/sites

3.02 Scope of Services or Requirements include but are not limited to the following services requested. Provide responses to address how requirements may be fulfilled.

1. The District may not incur any fees associated with vending equipment or product. Will there be any fees associated with installation of equipment, Software, or reporting, etc?

2. How long has Bidder been in the vending business, preferably in K-12 environment?

3. Bidder must understand USDA/Smart Snack compliance requirements for student accessible machines.

4. Provide an example of products and pricing to stock a typical vending machine, accessible to students and Smart Snack compliant, as well as example of products to stock NON-student vending machines for staff lounges, or administrative locations.

5. Bidder understands that vending equipment installed in Staff Lounges or administrative only locations are not required to adhere to Smart Snack compliance standards.

6. Bidder must understand that this RFP is outside of the FNS-owned Vending Equipment and FNS-owned and operated machines are not subject to proprietary agreements under this RFP.

7. Vending Equipment must accept debit and credit cards as tender. Card transactions must be PCI compliant.

8. Vending Equipment must accept cash and coin as tender.

9. Bidder must provide their process and frequency for re-stocking items and how “stale dated” or soon to expire product is addressed.

10. Identify Bidder’s product request process:

11. Explain how downtime and/or out-of-order of equipment issues are resolved?

12. How do individual’s receive refund for machine or product issues?

a. Who is the point of contact for such requests?

13. What is the notification process to the District or school, if a machine is under-performing and the vendor wishes to remove or relocate the equipment?

14. Explain how commission is calculated and the frequency of reporting commissions and how locations are issued commissions?

3.03 Install vending machines at school-based locations stocked with approved Smart Snack compliant items and at designated Administration locations. Clearly identify and label each machine with Vendor Name and contact information to include phone number and/or email address, of how to contact for customer support or vending issues.

3.04 Deliver, install, stock, and provide maintenance and support for machines. Coordinate delivery with designated staff per location. The awarded bidder will be required to work out a schedule for delivery with District, Location, that will minimize downtime for District schools and offices.

3.05 DELIVERY, INSTALLATION

Deliver, install, stock, and provide maintenance and support for machines. Coordinate delivery with designated staff per location.

3.06 Bidder shall propose a plan for delivery, installation, and training as part of their response.

Prior to scheduling the delivery of any equipment, Bidder must provide the District with all technical and environmental requirements for the delivery and installation of the equipment including:

• Electrical circuit

• Special grounding

• Actual space requirements

• Temperature limits

A. Bidder is responsible for removing any and all packing supplies upon delivery.

B. Bidder is responsible for relocating equipment associated with vending machines moving to new or remodeled school sites, or relocation of vending machines associated with right- sizing of under or overused equipment.

C. Any equipment delivered must perform to manufacturer's specifications within two

(2) days of the receipt of the equipment.

3.07 CUSTOMER SUPPORT, MAINTENANCE

Bidder shall have technicians to support the District's vending machine fleet. Bidder’s Customer Service will provide timely support. Bidder technicians will notify District when any machine is replaced and provide correct machine identification and serial number.

3.08 COOPERATIVE PURCHASING

Interlocal Cooperation Act RCW 39.34, allows any state agency or local governments to jointly cooperate with another state agency or state local government, to enter into mutual agreements with one another for the purpose of allowing joint cooperation and use of one another’s awarded contracts. Bidder must certify whether they will allow another public agency or local government to “piggyback” off of an NSD publicly solicited and competitively awarded contract as allowed per the Interlocal Cooperation Act.

PART 4 – GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Please review attached Exhibit A – Master Agreement sample that will be used for awarded contract.

Bidder’s response to this RFP and required documents with authorizing signature will be incorporated into the Master Agreement. If Bidder has any exceptions to RFP requirements, or general terms within Master Agreement, it must be included in bid response to be considered. District may accept or decline Bidder’s exceptions requests.

PART 5 – INSTRUCTIONS FOR BID SUBMITTAL

Bidder must submit a complete quote/proposal in accordance with the requirements of Section 5 below. All costs in submitting a proposal, responding to inquiries, and if requested, demonstration of services or samples of product as requested, shall be borne in full by the interested Bidder.

5.01 PREPARATION OF QUOTE/PROPOSAL FORMS

Interested Bidders are advised to provide as much detail as possible pertaining to their capabilities and experience to the services outlined in this proposal; however, Bidders should not include extraneous marketing materials. Information shall be presented in a clear, comprehensive, and concise manner and in the format prescribed below.

A. At a minimum, each proposal must include the following items:

1. Cover Letter

2. Company Information and References (Attachment A.)

3. Technical Proposal

4. Product Pricing to Customer (Attachment E)

• Rebate/Commission provided (if any)

6. Appendix

a. Include all required certification forms in this section (Attachments B – D))

b. Identify any exceptions to consider from the RFP.

B. SIGNATURES

All required forms requiring signatures must be signed (or digitally signed) in the name of the Bidder and must bear the title and signature of the person duly authorized to sign the proposal.

5.02 WITHDRAWAL OF PROPOSAL

Any Bidder may withdraw its proposal, either personally or by written request, at any time prior to the scheduled closing time for receipt of proposals. Proposals cannot be withdrawn once submitted and will be valid for a period of 90 days from the date due.

5.03 Bidders shall thoroughly examine and be familiar with all instructions, conditions, and/or specifications. The failure of a Bidder to receive or examine any form, attachment, clarification, addendum, or other document, or visit to the site when required in order to acquaint the Bidder with existing conditions, shall in no way relieve the Bidder from obligations concerning the proposal or the contract. The submission of a proposal shall be taken as prima facie evidence of compliance with this section.

5.04 Questions or requests for interpretation of specifications must be emailed to Joy Kuhlmann, Contracts and Procurement Manager, at jkuhlmann@nsd.org, referencing the title of this RFP in the subject line. Interpretations and answers to questions shall be communicated by a formal Clarification document that will be made available to all Bidders. No oral interpretation of any provision in the proposal documents will be made to any Bidder.

During the time-period that this RFP is active beginning with the date of first advertisement and ending with the date of contract award, no Bidder shall have any communication with any employee, student, or contractor of District about this RFP except for Joy Kuhlmann, Contracts and Procurement Manager. Violations of this requirement may result in disqualification of Bidder.

5.05 PUBLIC INFORMATION/CONFIDENTIALITY

The District understands that Bidders may include within their proposal information that is deemed confidential in the opinion of the Bidder. The Bidder must understand that the District is subject to clear legislation governing open records and public information requests within the State of Washington. Bidders must clearly mark portions of their proposal that they feel are exempt from disclosure pursuant to RCW 42.56 or any other state and federal statute and include an explanation as to why they believe the indicated documents are exempt. The District will not be bound by any blanket confidentiality agreements, and the District makes no assurances that confidential materials will be held in confidence if they are not deemed qualified for exemption.

Bidder acknowledges the obligations for maintaining the confidentiality of student records and access to the parents and students of such records in accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

5.06 SAMPLE CONTRACT

Bidder shall review the attached Sample Contract (Attachment G). Bidder shall be prepared to execute this document if selected. If Bidder would like to request revisions to the Sample Contract terms, Bidder shall submit a statement in the Appendix of its proposal indicating any terms that it would like to negotiate, within the parameters of the awarded cooperative agreement. These terms should be clearly identified by reference to the Section number of the Sample Contract where the terms can be found. Bidder shall clearly indicate the suggested revisions to terms. District reserves the right to negotiate these contract terms with the selected Bidders.

mailto:jkuhlmann@nsd.org

PART 6 – EVALUATION, WEIGHTED CRITERIA and AWARD

6.01 EVALUATION

A. Once received, Proposals will be evaluated for responsiveness. A Proposal will receive a pass/fail determination for each of the following criteria:

1. Submission of proposal through secure email link provided:

https://mailfile.nsd.org/filedrop/bids

2. Proposal contains the minimum required sections indicated in Section 5 of this RFP.

3. Bidder provided an active Washington Business License number (UBI).

4. Bidder is not debarred from receiving government funds.

5. All required forms and the cover letter have been submitted, and all forms requiring signature have been signed by authorized person.

6. Bidder is able to provide all equipment, products and services requested in Section 3 of the RFP.

7. Any other criteria which may be relevant to this determination. District reserves the right to follow up with the Bidder to request additional information to determine responsiveness.

B. If a Quote/Proposal receives a pass score from the responsiveness evaluation, it will proceed to responsibility weighted scoring evaluation. Evaluations will be based on the criteria listed below. The District will assign points to each responsive proposal at its own discretion.

C. The District anticipates inviting Secondary School ASB Student Representatives to assist in the review and evaluation process.

RESPONSIBILITY SELECTION WEIGHTED CRITERIA (Student Participation)

Criteria

Point Value

QUALITY of Proposal 10

PRICE to Customer/Consumer 30

REBATE/COMMISSION 25

PRODUCT EVALUATION and VARIETY (Samples may be requested)

CUSTOMER HISTORY/EXPERIENCE

References and/or Previous District Performance may be considered https://mailfile.nsd.org/filedrop/bids

TOTAL POINTS AVAILABLE: 100

Extra Interview Points (0-10): 10

GRAND TOTAL: 110

D. Proposal Quality refers to the overall quality of the proposal submitted by the Bidder. This includes completeness, compliance with proposal instructions, organization, spelling and grammar, and conciseness of descriptive text material.

E. Points for Consumer Price will be awarded based on the proposed cost for products/beverages offered through vending machine.

F. Points assessed for best commission/rebate percentages based on sales from vending machines.

G. Evaluation will include assessment of product and selection/variety available.

H. The District reserves the right to contact Bidders to clarify proposals and/or ask for additional information. This may include requests for demonstration of services or sample of products proposed.

I. The District reserves the right to waive any irregularity in any proposal, to accept or decline any and/or all of the proposals, to take no action whatsoever, and/or to request the submittal of new proposals. All proposals submitted become the property of the District and will not be returned.

J. District may select Bidders with the highest evaluation scores to proceed to an interview/demo stage at District’s discretion. Interviews may include Q&A, service demonstrations, and any other format the District selects, and anticipate Student ASB Representative(s) to participate in the process. The form and schedule of interviews will be at the sole discretion of the District and will be communicated by written correspondence at the time Bidders are notified of interview selections.

6.02 AWARD

A. Once scoring is complete, District will determine which Bidders have the highest total scores. District will issue a Notice of Intent to Award contract to the highest-ranked Bidder meeting District needs. All Bidders who submitted a proposal will be notified in writing of this decision.

B. Awarded Contractor recommendation will be presented to Northshore School District Board of Directors on a consent agenda for final approval.

6.03 DISQUALIFICATION OF BIDDERS

A. The District in its discretion may determine that a Bidder is not responsive and reject its proposal for any of the following reasons:

B. Evidence of collusion with any other Bidder or Bidders. Participants in such collusion shall be disqualified from submitting any further proposals.

C. If District determines that Bidder is not qualified to perform the contract.

D. Unsatisfactory performance record, judged from the standpoint of conduct of service, or progress, as shown by past or current service for the District.

E. Failure to pay or settle bills on any former or current contracts.

F. If the Bidder has previously defaulted in the performance of a written public contract or has been convicted of a crime arising from a previous public contract.

G. Any other inability, financial or otherwise, to perform the contract.

H. For any reasons deemed improper as determined from a pre-award survey of Bidder’s capability to perform.

I. Any proposal submitted by a Bidder who is not registered or licensed as may be required by the laws of Washington State.

6.04 EXCEPTIONS

Bidder is expected to provide services compliant with the requirements included in Section 2 above. If Bidder is not able to meet these requirements, Bidder may submit a statement in the Appendix of its proposal indicating any requirements which cannot be met. These requirements should be clearly identified by reference to the Section number of the RFP where the requirements can be found. Bidder shall provide a detailed statement indicating why these requirements cannot be met. District reserves the right to evaluate these requirements and determine whether the proposal is non-responsive or remove the requirement from consideration for all proposers and equitably evaluate all proposals based on the revised requirements.

6.05 PROTEST PROCEDURE: District’s Protest Procedure can be found on the website at https://www.nsd.org/our-district/departments/business-services/purchasing/business .

***See Attachments and Exhibits included with RFP***