Attach 2_Section L_SPE30220R0001.pdf

Section L SPE302-20-R-0001

PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

I. Proposal Format

A. General: The following instructions cover the preparation and submittal of the offeror’s proposal for this solicitation. Offerors must follow the instructions contained herein. Offerors are cautioned that any noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the RFP may cause their proposal to be determined to be unacceptable and therefore not considered eligible for award. If a joint venture arrangement exists for this acquisition, the offeror shall provide a copy of the joint venture agreement that is signed and dated by all joint venture members as part of the proposal submission. Offerors shall submit only one proposal for the solicitation as the Government will review only one proposal per offeror. Proposals received are subject to the requirements specified in FAR 52.212-1, unless otherwise tailored in the Addendum to the solicitation. Offerors shall submit their past performance file before the required submission date of the proposal. Offerors are requested to submit Past Performance Information via email to Anna.Hamada@dla.mil and Chelsea.McNeely@dla.mil, so that it is received ten (10) calendar days prior to the required due date for proposals. Failure to submit past performance information by the earlier date will not result in offeror disqualification. Proposals must be received no later than the date and time specified in Block 8 on the front page of the SF1449.

B. Communications:

Exchanges of source selection information between Government and offerors will be controlled by the Contracting Officer. Email will be used to transmit such information. All email messages must include “SPE302-20-R-0001 Proposal (Vendor Name)” in the subject line of the email.

II. File Organization

A. General: Proposals shall be submitted to the Government in three separate files as set forth below:

FILE NUMBER OF COPIES DESCRIPTION

I 1 Completed RFP II 1 PACA license and

GHP/GAP certificate III I Past Performance

Information IV 1 Cost/Price Proposal

1. The time and date DLA Troop Support Indo-Pacific received the emailed proposal package will be used as a receipt stamp for package submission. Each file shall be marked with the RFP number and the offeror’s name and address, and the number of the file, i.e. I, II, III, etc. Proposals shall be in the English language and shall be proposed in United States dollars.

2. Print shall be no smaller than 12 font excluding any charts, graphs, drawings, diagrams, supporting illustrations, or spreadsheets, etc.

mailto:Anna.Hamada@dla.mil mailto:Chelsea.McNeely@dla.mil

3. Each page containing proprietary information should be so marked.

B. File I, Completed RFP

1. General: File I, Completed RFP refers to the checklist on page 4 of the SF1449 and listed below in paragraph (a). Offerors are cautioned that any noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the RFP may cause their proposal to be determined unacceptable and therefore not considered eligible for award. Offerors shall ensure that all clauses and provisions that require “fill in” information are appropriately completed, including the proposed prices associated with the contract Schedule of items in the RFP.

(a) Proposal Submission

Each offeror must submit:

(i) a signed copy of the solicitation (and amendments, if applicable),

(ii) all solicitation attachments (including Attachment 1 with proposed prices),

(iii) a copy of a valid PACA License,

(iv) a valid GHP / GAP audit for each place of performance, and

(v) Past Performance Information

Proposals must be submitted via electronic delivery (e-mail) or CD-ROM. CDs shall be scanned to be free of virus. Proprietary information shall be marked as such. Any documents with proprietary information can be password protected. Password shall be sent under separate cover.

Proposals shall be submitted no later than the date and time specified in Block 8 on the front page of the SF1449.

E-mail submissions are to be sent to:

Anna.Hamada@dla.mil Chelsea.McNeely@dla.mil

CD-ROM submissions are to be hand delivered or mailed to:

Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Troop Support Indo-Pacific ATTN: Anna Hamada 1025 Quincy Avenue, Suite 1000 Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, HI 96860-3520

C. File II, PACA license and GHP/GAP Certificate

PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES ACT (PACA) LICENSE

Much like you need a driver’s license to operate a vehicle, the law requires that you have a PACA license to operate a produce business. The PACA license is the key to ensuring that traders meet their contractual obligations under the law. Fruit and vegetable buyers and sellers must abide by the fair trading practices established by the PACA or face possible suspension or revocation of mailto:Anna.Hamada@dla.mil mailto:Chelsea.McNeely@dla.mil their license. This includes meeting contract specifications, paying all contracts promptly, and maintaining trust assets.

All offerors must possess, at the time of submission of proposal, and maintain a valid PACA license throughout the life of contract. Failure to do so will make offeror ineligible for award and may result in termination of contract.

GHP/GAP CERTIFICATE

The Contractor shall, for all places of performance, maintain a USDA GAP/GHP certificate AND be listed in the USDA-AMS GAP or GHP Verification Directory for a full range of fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the period of contract performance. The USDA GAP/GHP certificate must demonstrate a passing score, and specifically passing with respect to the following parts:

General, Wholesale Distribution (6) and Preventive Food Defense (7). Further information, including inspection requirements, can be found at https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/auditing/gap-ghp.

C. File III, Past Performance Information

1. General: The offeror shall submit Present and Past Performance Information for itself and any joint venture member, as well as each proposed critical subcontractor. A critical subcontractor is defined as an entity (subcontractor and/or teaming contractor), other than the offeror. The evaluation of the offeror’s/joint venture member’s present/past performance WILL NOT include the present/past performance of any subcontractor(s), vendor(s)/supplier(s) even though they may perform major or critical aspects of this requirement.

2. Past Performance Format: The requested present and past performance information shall be provided on attachment 4 of the RFP as a separate file. Summary page information must clearly communicate that proposed critical subcontractor(s) meet the definition of a critical subcontractor established above. Efforts submitted for proposed critical subcontractors not meeting the established definition will not be evaluated. Each offeror/joint venture member shall complete a separate Past Performance Questionnaire for three (3) active or completed contracts (with at least one year of performance history) in the past five (5) years from the issuance date of the RFP, that the offeror/joint venture member considers relevant in demonstrating its ability to perform the proposed effort. The offeror's/joint venture member’s or critical subcontractor’s present and past performance information may include data on efforts performed by other predecessor companies, affiliates, other divisions or corporate if such was provided for evaluation and if the offeror’s past performance volume demonstrates the company, affiliate, or division will provide the offeror with resources for the instant proposed effort, such as workforce, management, facilities, or other capabilities demonstrating direct and meaningful involvement in the performance of the instant proposed effort. The Past Performance Questionnaire shall clearly indicate the division or corporate organization that performed or is presently performing the contract. Contracts listed may include those with the Federal Government, state and local governments or their agencies, and commercial customers.

3. Past Performance Questionnaire: The offeror/joint venture member or critical subcontractor, if applicable, shall focus its Past Performance Questionnaire responses so that they clearly correlate present and past performance with the requirements of this RFP. The Past Performance https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/auditing/gap-ghp

Questionnaire responses must clearly describe the relevance of the effort to the work proposed.

Provide the most current information for the Points of Contact (POCs) identified on the Past Performance Questionnaire. At least two of the following (in descending order of availability) should be identified as current POCs on the Past Performance Questionnaire:

(a) Procuring Contracting Officer/Contract Negotiator or equivalent

(b) Program/Project Manager, or equivalent

(c) Administrative Contracting Officer/Contract Administrator or equivalent

(d) Other (as specified in your Past Performance Questionnaire)

If problems were encountered during the performance of the identified contracts, provide evidence of the ability to isolate the root causes of problems and include in the Past Performance Questionnaire a description of programs or actions taken to resolve those causes. Problems not addressed in the Past Performance Questionnaire, but found by the Government during the evaluation of the information in this volume, will be assumed to still exist. Note: In the case of Contractor Performance Assessment Report System (CPARS), if your input has already been provided and the rationale/circumstances have not changed, DO NOT repeat them here.

The Present/Past Performance Questionnaire (see RFP Attachment 4) will be one means used by the Government to obtain present/past performance information. The offeror shall send out and track the completion of the Present/Past Performance Questionnaires to each of the offeror’s, joint venture member’s and/or critical subcontractors’ (i.e., each entity’s) Points of Contact (POCs) identified on page 1 of attachment 4 of the RFP. The responsibility to send out and track the completion of the Present/Past Performance Questionnaires rests solely with the offeror - it shall not be delegated to any other entity. Exert your best effort to ensure that at least two POCs per relevant contract submit a completed Present/Past Performance Questionnaire directly to the Government not later than the date established in the Past Performance Questionnaire.

POCs may submit their completed Present/Past Performance Questionnaire by email as indicated in the Past Performance Questionnaire.

Once the Present/Past Performance Questionnaires are completed by your POCs, the information contained therein shall be considered source selection sensitive and shall not be released to you, the offeror. Therefore, any exchange/contact between the offeror/joint venture member and/or critical subcontractor and its own POCs in regards to comments made on the questionnaire is not permitted.

4. Follow-up Discussions: The Government may conduct follow-up discussions with any of the people identified in the Past Performance Questionnaire or in the offeror’s Present/Past Performance File.

D. File IV, Cost/Price Proposal

1. Price information:

An offeror’s price proposal shall consist of prices submitted for each of the items found in the Schedule of Items (Attachment 1). The Schedule of Items is a grouping of items expected to be ordered by the customers along with the estimated quantities. The items found in the schedule represent 100% of the estimated dollar value for this group. Offerors are required to submit their Contract Unit Price for each item, broken down into the corresponding Delivered Price and Distribution Price components. Pricing will be based on the following formula:

Contract Unit Price = (Delivered Price – Rebates/Discounts) + Distribution Price

(See Economic Price Adjustment section of this solicitation for price component definitions)

Please fill in the WHITE BOXES only - G6 through G155 for the case delivered pricing and H2 for the distribution price. The offeror may propose different Distribution Prices for each tier, but all items within each tier shall have the same distribution price. The offeror must submit tier period distribution prices by filling in white cells H2 for Tier 1 and H2 for Tier 2 in Attachment 1 of the RFP. The spreadsheet will automatically calculate your total evaluated price for each Tier.

Formatting of Prices: Prices shall be formatted to no more than two places to the right of the decimal point, for example, $2.50. In the event that the offeror submits a price that exceeds this limitation, the price will be rounded up or down using standard rounding methods. For example, a price of $2.215 or higher will be rounded up to $2.22 and a price of $2.214 or lower will be rounded down to $2.21.

2. Distribution Prices and Tiers:

Only one Distribution Price shall be offered for all items in each Tier. Offerors may propose a different Distribution Price per Tier. If an offeror fails to propose a Distribution Price for all of the Tiers, the Contracting Officer will utilize the last proposed Tier and apply it onward for each subsequent Tier. For instance, an offeror proposes a Distribution Price of $3.00 for Tier 1 and fails to provide any Distribution Price for Tier 2. The Contracting Officer will apply the $3.00 Distribution Price from Tier 1 to Tier 2. This application is reasonable and acceptable by the offeror per the terms of this section.

(a) Schedule of Items: Pricing

(i) The Schedule of Items in Attachment 1 of the RFP represents 100% of the estimated dollar value of this procurement. Offerors must submit pricing for all items in the Schedule of Items. The unit prices of all items found in the Schedule of Items will be comparatively assessed to identify any unusually high or low priced items. This assessment includes, but is not limited to, comparison amongst offerors’ prices as well as comparison against USDA market report prices and internal Government databases that are applicable.

(ii) Estimated quantities for each 12-month period (2 separate Tiers, consisting of two (2)

12-month time periods) are indicated next to each item and are for information and evaluation purposes only. The Offeror’s proposed Contract Unit Prices found in the Schedule of Items will be multiplied by the estimated quantities by Tier in order to calculate the Offeror’s overall aggregate total price, which will be compared against the other offerors in order to identify the lowest overall price proposal.

(iii) Offerors are to submit proposed prices in accordance with the definitions of the separate price components identified earlier in this Solicitation. The Delivered Prices proposed must reflect those prices that were paid by the offeror for the various items. Upon request from the Contracting Officer, an offeror may be required to substantiate the aforementioned proposed Delivered Prices with a product invoice (quotes may be accepted in very limited circumstances per Contracting Officer discretion) and accompanying freight invoice. The offeror’s proposed Contract Unit Prices must be in a format that identifies the Delivered Price, minus any applicable Rebates/Discounts, and the Distribution Price as separate entries, then totaled together as one lump sum (i.e. the Contract Unit Price). For example, if the Delivered Price is $20.00, the applicable Rebates/Discounts equal $0.25, and the Distribution Price is $3.00 an offeror’s proposed Contract Unit Price for that item should be indicated as follows:

($20.00 – $0.25) + $ 3.00 = $ 22.75 (Prices used for illustrative purposes only)

(1) An offeror shall NOT submit only the Contract Unit Price. All three components, as demonstrated above, shall be provided for each item.

(2) Delivered Prices, applicable Rebates/Discounts, and Distribution Prices for all items are to be submitted according to the Government’s Unit of Issue. There are NO exceptions to this requirement. Failure to do so may result in an offeror’s proposal being deemed technically unacceptable and therefore eliminated from further consideration for award. Please note that all items listed in the Solicitation’s Schedule of Items will ultimately become part of the Contractor’s catalog.

(3) It is important to note that the Rebates/Discounts reported by an offeror during the proposal and subsequent evaluation stage will be relied upon by the Contracting Officer in demonstrating the favorable business relationships and resulting pricing terms that the offeror has with its suppliers. These favorable pricing terms, as well as any other terms represented in its proposal, should be available and utilized during the performance of the contract if the offeror is selected as the awardee. Therefore, it is required that the offeror be realistic and accurate in its reporting of said Rebates/Discounts.

(b) Distribution Prices

(i) The offeror shall provide Distribution Prices for each tier, as discussed. Each

Distribution Price shall reflect performance costs on a per-case basis. Each tier may have a different Distribution Price, but each tier’s Distribution Price shall apply to all items during the entire tier period.

(ii) Unlike Delivered Prices (as discussed further below), Distribution Prices shall remain constant for the entirety of each individual contract Tier. As such, the Distribution Price for Tier 1 does not have to be equal to the Distribution Price for Tiers 2. These prices can differ or remain the same as the Tier 1 price; but ultimately will remain constant for the duration of each tier period.

3. Delivered Prices

The offeror is required to submit pricing on all items within the Schedule of Items. For evaluation purposes, an offeror’s proposed prices on the Schedule of Items shall reflect the offeror’s Delivered Prices.

As part of the evaluation process and requirement for proposal submission, the Government may require the offeror to substantiate any of its proposed Delivered Prices with an invoice / quote from the manufacturer, grower, private label holder, or redistributor (collectively referred to as “Supplier”) along with the corresponding freight invoice. The line item number must be clearly marked on each invoice (product and freight) to identify the invoice’s corresponding item. The preferred documentation is the manufacturer, grower, or private label holder invoice. If a particular line item was not stocked during that time period, a written quote from a manufacturer, grower or private label holder may be accepted. If an offeror does not have an invoice, the offeror needs to explain why, e.g. not in season, do not carry, etc. As stated, the Government has a strong preference for invoices over market quotes or other documentation. All invoices, quotes, or other documentation must be from sources that the offeror currently uses or plans to use to support the resultant contract. All invoices (and other documentation as permitted) must contain realistic quantities for which the price paid was based upon. For example, an invoice for a quantity of 1 will not be accepted when the Government routinely purchases quantities well in excess of that quantity. Conversely, an invoice (and other documentation as permitted) based upon an unrealistically large quantity will not be accepted. Quotes shall not be used for the purpose of submitting a price lower than an existing invoice price within the offeror’s possession for the particular time period required by the Solicitation. This type of gamesmanship (i.e. lowballing or buying in) threatens the integrity of the procurement process and runs afoul of the clear intention of this Solicitation. As such, it will not be tolerated. By submitting a quote, the offeror is certifying that it did not purchase, nor have in stock, the item for the time period being evaluated. Information that is later obtained by the Contracting Officer that casts doubt on the veracity of this certification will be handled as appropriate per the terms of this Solicitation, applicable regulations, laws, or otherwise. The Contracting Officer has the sole authority and ultimate discretion in addressing the above-identified situations and scenarios and ultimately deciding on what information is acceptable and substantiates an offeror’s proposed Delivered Prices.