CNPP Food Price Sources Sought Notice Draft 2024.01.29.pdf

Sources Sought Notice

Developing Innovative Approaches for Collecting Food Price Data in U.S.

Territories and the Non-Contiguous States

This SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE is to determine the interest and technical capability of small businesses to perform the task described below. This notice is for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government, nor will the

U.S. Government pay for information solicited. The information from this notice will help the

United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) plan their acquisition strategy.

Task Requirements

FNS uses information on current food prices for several applications related to research, policy, and consumer education. An important application of data on food prices is in calculating cost adjustments to the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) to reflect the food prices in specific areas of the country. In July 2023, FNS published the Thrifty Food Plan Cost Estimates for Alaska and

Hawaii report, which used Circana retail scanner data (formerly IRI InfoScan) from 2017 to calculate the difference in the price of food in Anchorage, Alaska and Honolulu, Hawaii compared to the 48 States and D.C. in alignment with the current statutory and regulatory framework. To conduct this analysis, FNS calculated inflation-adjusted average unit prices for over 11,000 products identified by Universal Product Codes (UPCs) in the retail scanner data from over 40,000 stores in the mainland United States, 20 stores in Anchorage, and 32 stores in

Honolulu, representing billions of transactions across the year.

The retail scanner data reflects the best source of information on food prices currently available to FNS that can be used to adjust the cost of the TFP to reflect local food prices. However, these data are comprised of a nonrandom sample of primarily larger stores, with smaller, independent stores generally underrepresented. Because of the nonrandom sample of stores and the level of aggregation at which the data is made accessible to FNS, there is uncertainty whether these data could support the calculation of reliable, representative estimates of food prices in the non-contiguous States and U.S. Territories in the future.

FNS is seeking a professional to investigate, pilot, and implement at scale new methods of collecting food price data in regions of the country that tend to be under-represented in sources of food price data currently accessible to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and

Nutrition Service (FNS), specifically the non-contiguous States: Alaska and Hawaii, and the five

U.S. Territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Capability Statement

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, NO SOLICITATION

EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

FNS is conducting market research to identify qualified small business sources that can address the below questions in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.502-2(b).

Specifically, interested firms responding to this notice must submit a capability statement demonstrating their experience, skills, and qualifications with projects of similar scope and size completed within the last five (5) years and describe in appropriate detail, competency in each of the following points (A through E). The Capability statement shall not exceed twelve (12) pages total and shall provide sufficient enough detail that the Government can determine the experience and capability of your firm to fulfill the requirements. Expound, utilizing specific examples, on how the firm has undertaken and/or demonstrated the prerequisites listed below:

A. What experience do you have convening expert panels regarding options for collecting food price data?

B. What experience do you have integrating opinions of experts in designing a data collection protocol or study plan?

C. What experience do you have collecting food price data?

D. What experience do you have organizing, documenting, and delivering data sets?

E. What experience do you have comparing statistical properties of data collected using multiple approaches?

The capability statement needs to include a list of three customers (Government/non-

Government) within the past 5-years highlighting work of a similar nature, scope, and complexity to the tasks described above. The Government technical review team will then assess the experience and capabilities based on relevance to the described requirements.

Please specify one primary and one alternate Point of Contact (POC) within your firm, including telephone numbers and email addresses. Interested firms responding to this Sources Sought

Notice shall submit the following: Company name, address, point of contact, telephone number, email address, and Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS), and NAICS code. Provide business size and status, if appropriate, such as Small Business, Disadvantaged, 8(a), Historically

Underutilized Business Zones (HUB) Zone, Woman Owned, Minority Owned, Service-Disabled

Veteran Owned, or Other Than Small Business. Provide contract vehicles you participate in such as General Services Administration (GSA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration

(NASA) Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP), National Institutes of Health

(NIH), Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), or any other vehicle.

Submission Requirements:

1. Limit the length of the packages to 12 double spaced pages. Note: Packages over 12 pages will not be evaluated.

2. 1inch margins (top, bottom, and sides)

3. Times New Roman font - 12 point

4. Page limitation does not include appendices, but contains 1 cover page or 1 letter of introduction page

5. Do not include promotional materials

Only electronic copies of capability statements will be accepted and should be emailed to:

Chantey Bost, Chantey.Bost@usda.gov mailto:Chantey.Bost@usda.gov

The e-mail shall contain the following subject line: Response to Sources Sought Notice –

Developing Innovative Approaches for Collecting Food Price Data in U.S. Territories and the

Non-Contiguous States.

A determination by the Government to proceed with the acquisition as a set-aside is within the discretion of the Government. If capability statements are not received from at least two responsible small businesses or if the Government determines that no small business concerns are capable of performing this requirement based upon an assessment of the capability statements submitted, the Government may proceed with a full and open competition.

Please submit all information to Chantey Bost at Chantey.Bost@usda.gov no later than

Wednesday, March 6, 2024, by 12:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time. NO TELEPHONE

REQUESTS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

mailto:Chantey.Bost@usda.gov