AJ12--Research Animal Feed and Bedding

DESCRIPTION: The purpose of this Sources Sought Announcement is for market research to make appropriate acquisition decisions and to gain knowledge of potential qualified Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSB), Small Business Manufacturers, other Small Businesses interested and capable of providing items requested, as well as any large businesses relative to NAICS 311119 Other Animal Food Manufacturing. The results from this source sought notice will be used to determine set-aside. The intended contract is a firm-fixed price supply purchase. The SBA Non-Manufacturer Rule is applicable, and a waiver will not be sought for this potential acquisition. Responses to this sources sought announce are not considered adequate responses to any future solicitation announcements. All interested offerors will have to respond to the solicitation announcement in addition to responding to this sources sought announcement.

The Regional Procurement Office (RPO) East seeks BRAND NAME ONLY sources of the following with delivery arrangements specified in the Statement of Work (SOW). Due to the need for consistent interpretation and reproducibility of study results in research animals, the following items are needed to ensure ongoing research data validity. Items provided cannot be equivalent and must be directly delivered to the research facility locations noted in the SOW by the distributor. Any change in product, risks the data validity of past and future experiments.

MFG #

Manufacturer

FEED DESCRIPTION

1024

Canidae

CD DOG ALL LIFE STAGES 13OZ CAN 12/CS; SOLD BY CASE

1124

Canidae

CD DOG CHICKEN & RICE 13OZ CAN 12/CS; SOLD BY CASE

1224

Canidae

CD DOG LAMB & RICE 13OZ CAN 12/CS; SOLD BY CASE

2.363E+09

Natural Balance

NB BEEF & RICE 13OZ DOG CAN 12/CS; SOLD BY CASE

5006Z2N

LabDiet

LABDIET LAB CANINE DIET 50LB

5L18ZGP

LabDiet

LABDIET LAB CANINE HIGH DENSITY 33LB

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5015

Canidae

CD CAT INDOOR FORMULA 15LB

11565

Fromm

FROMM GOLD ADULT CAT 5LB 4=CS; SOLD BY EACH

3550

Vital Essentials

VE CAT 1OZ CHICKEN BREAST FD 12=CS; SOLD BY EACH

3552

Vital Essentials

VE CAT 0.9OZ DUCK LIVER FD 12=CS; SOLD BY EACH

11245

Fromm

FROMM FOUR-STAR CHICKEN DUCK & SALMON PATE CAT 5.5OZ 12/CS; SOLD BY CASE

11237

Fromm

FROMM FOUR-STAR TURKEY PATE CAT 5.5OZ 12/CS; SOLD BY CASE

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5001C2N

LabDiet

LABDIET RODENT LAB CHOW 50LB PELLET

5015C2N

LabDiet

LABDIET MOUSE CHOW 50LB

5053C3N

LabDiet

LABDIET PICOLAB RODENT 20% 25LB *

5058C3N

LabDiet

LABDIET PICOLAB MOUSE 20% 25LB

5P06C2N

LabDiet

LABDIET RMH 2000 50LB *

5P14C2N

LabDiet

LABDIET RMH 2500 50LB

5BV4

TestDiet

TESTDIET 5053 W 150PPM FENBENDAZOLE 5BV4; Priced per kg/ & sold in 20kg boxes *

5R58-20LB

LabDiet

LABDIET PICOLAB MOUSE 20 EXT IRR 20LB *

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5326CGP

LabDiet

LABDIET LAB RABBIT HIGH FIBER 15KG

5008CGP

LabDiet

LABDIET FORMULAB 33LB

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MFG #

ManufacturerÂ

ENRICHMENT/SUPPLEMENTS DESCRIPTION

9069

Diamond Naturals

DIA DOG CHICKEN BISCUITS 19LB

9063

Diamond Naturals

DIA DOG CHICKEN BISCUITS 16OZ 6=CS; SOLD BY EACH *

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100/BX

Animal Specialties

ANIMAL SPECIALTIES I CHEW BLUE 100/BOX

70015022

Clear H20

CLEAR H20 HYDROGEL 2OZ CUP 96/CS

70011062

Clear H20

CLEAR H20 HYDROGEL 6OZ POUCH 70/CS

72065022

Clear H20

CLEAR H2O DIETGEL RECOVERY 2OZ CUPS 96/CS

72075022

Clear H20

CLEAR H2O DIETGEL 76A W/CASEIN 2OZ CUPS 96/CS

6953104

Clear H20

CLEAR H2O MEDIGEL TMS 4OZ CUP 72/CS *

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99060

Zupreem

ZUPREEM NATURES PROMISE TIMOTHY HAY 40OZ 3/CS

0

Southwest Farms

SWFARMS ALFALFA HAY CUBES 50LB

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MFG #

ManufacturerÂ

BEDDING DESCRIPTION

NES3600

Ancare

ANCARE NESTLETS 2" X 2"; 3600 NESTLETS PER CASE

NES7200

Ancare

ANCARE NESTLETS 1" X 1"; 14,400 NESTLETS PER CASE

712225

Ever Clean

EVER CLEAN EXTRA STRENGTH MULTI CAT 25LB *

3-002

Pj Murphy

PJ MURPHY SANI-CHIPS 2.2CF

ED25

Shepherd

SHEPHERD ENVIRO-DRI 25 LB BOX

ADT60

Shepherd

SHEPHERD ALPHA-DRI 20LB

411764

Shepherd

SHEPHERD POLY PAD 26 X 28 6-PLY; 1000 SHT MINIMUM **

CUSTOM

Shepherd

SHEPHERD TECHBOARD 27 X 27 **

STATEMENT OF WORK

A. GENERAL INFORMATION

Title of Project: Research Laboratory Animal Food and Bedding, Direct Delivery

Background:

This is a multi-year (5 years) contract for research laboratory animal food, bedding, and other necessary care items for the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS) Research and Development Service. To maintain the necessary integrity and consistency of research, using a distributor that can furnish the exact items listed in the quote is imperative. Items provided cannot be equivalent and must be directly delivered to the VAGLAHS facilities by the distributor. Any change in product, risks the data validity of past and future experiments.

Scope:

The contractor shall provide all labor, packaging, and transportation necessary to provide animal feed and bedding in accordance with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines and the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC).

Period of Performance:

The period of performance (POP) shall be for five (5) years, 8/1/2024 7/31/2029.

Type of Contract:

Five (5) year / Multi-year, Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity Firm Fixed Price Contract

Place of Performance:

The supplies described above are to be provided to the following facilities:

West LA (WLA) Campus Research Facility

Building 117

11301 Wilshire Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90073

Sepulveda (SEP) Campus Research Facility

Building 47

16111 Plummer Street

North Hills, CA 91343

The delivery location is subject to change as required by the designated authority or authorized personnel from Research and Development Service. The Contracting Officer Representative (COR) will notify the Contractor when delivery location changes.

B. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Packaging and Marking

Milling date and product composition must be indicated on all containers of feed. Milling date shall be no more than six (6) months prior to delivery, with a goal to ship all laboratory diets within sixty (60) days of the milling date.

All supplies shall be adequately packaged to prevent damage during shipping, handling and storage. Bags or packages shall be whole, intact, and not otherwise torn or damaged. Upon delivery, the Government shall examine all packages. The Contractor shall be required to replace unacceptable or damaged products.

Each package shall be certified by the manufacturer to have met quality standards prior to shipment, in accordance with the FDA s Good Laboratory Practices requirements.

Bedding

Contractor shall be required to provide laboratory bedding that contains no hydrocarbons.

Brand Name Only

Contractor shall be required to provide brand name only as specified in the schedule of supplies of this package for all required animal feed and bedding supplies. Alternations of the ingredients make-up shall not be allowed under any circumstance, as any changes could affect the outcome of research project(s). The same diet, with no changes, shall be required throughout the research term; therefore, no substitutions shall be accepted.

Hours of Delivery/Service

All deliveries will be made during normal business hours, with the exception of National Holidays. Each facility will specify their delivery hours. All deliveries are F.O.B. Destination. All deliveries must be accompanied with a packing slip with the contract number, obligation number, shipping address, delivery location, items/quantity ordered, and items/quantity shipped.

Placing Orders

Orders shall be placed on a weekly or as needed basis by the designated official from the Animal Research Facility or COR. All orders are to be delivered within five (5) working days from the time the order is placed. Emergency deliveries may be necessary on occasions. During these occasions, deliveries shall be made within or no more than two (2) days.

Quarterly Usage Report

The contractor shall provide the COR a usage report on a quarterly basis at minimum.

Responses must be emailed to millicent.covert@va.gov no later than 11:59 AM EST on Friday, July 19, 2024. Please reference 36C24E24Q0072 in the subject line of your email when responding to this notice. Your response should include both the STATEMENT OF CAPABILITY and BUSINESS SIZE AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS information as explained below. This notice is to assist the RPO - East with determining sources only. If a solicitation is issued it will be announced at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to that solicitation announcement separately from the responses to this announcement.

Required Information in Your Response to Sources Sought:

In order to be considered a valid source that can impact the set-aside determination of a possible future solicitation, potential contractors shall provide, at a minimum, the following information:

1) Company name, address, and point of contact, phone number, e-mail address, and UEI.

2) Please identify your company s size in comparison to the anticipated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 311111 - Other Animal Food Manufacturing. To be considered a small business your company must have fewer than 1,000 employees.

This notice is to determine the marketplace for this specific requirement.

Please check one of the following:

[ ] yes [ ] no Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)

[ ] yes [ ] no Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB)

[ ] yes [ ] no Small Business Manufacturers

[ ] yes [ ] no All other Small Business (SB)

[ ] yes [ ] no Other than Small Business

3) Any Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses or Veteran Owned Businesses that respond to a solicitation on this project must provide a SBA certification and be registered with U.S. Small Business Administration Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) located at https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/.

4) If not a manufacturer, only authorized representatives/providers/distributors of the manufacturer will be considered. Please provide a proof of authorized dealer or reseller letter from the manufacturer.

5) If possible, please provide unofficial pricing in response to this request to evaluate price reasonableness for any set-aside determination.

The Government is not obligated to, nor will it pay for or reimburse any costs associated with responding to this sources sought notice. This notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. The Government will in no way be bound to this information if any solicitation is issued.

Notice to Potential Offerors: All Offerors who provide goods or services to the United States Federal Government must be registered in the System Award Management (SAM located on the web at www.sam.gov). It is desirable that any Offeror to have completed their business Online Representations and Certifications Application in the System for Award Management (SAM).