Request for Information for New England Produce Buy

This is a Request for Information (“RFI”).  DLA Troop Support’s (“Agency”) Subsistence Produce Program is interested in comments and feedback regarding the Agency’s full line produce support to Department of Defense (“DoD;” Troop) and United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA;” Schools) Customers throughout the New England (NE) zone, including the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont.  There is no solicitation available at this time.  The Government will not pay for any information received in response to this RFI, nor will the Government compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing the information provided to the Government.  This RFI does not constitute a commitment from the Government and any information provided in response to this market survey will be used for informational purposes only and will not be released.  Any proprietary information submitted will be protected if appropriately marked.  Please note that by responding to the instant Agency request, a potential offeror is not promised any future business with the Government.  The sole purpose of this RFI is to conduct market research to assist the Agency in creating an appropriate solicitation in the future.

Background: The Agency intends to issue a solicitation and ultimately enter into indefinite quantity contract(s) (“IQC”) with a commercial firm(s) to supply a full-line of United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) Grade Number 1 or better quality fresh fruits and vegetables (“FF&V”) and Shell Eggs (if required by the customers) to Department of Defense (“DoD”, or “Troop”) and USDA (“Schools”) customers in the NE Zone.  Specific quality requirements per item are included in the Schedule of Items (Attachment 1).  When proposing in response to a solicitation, failure to propose the specified quality requirement per item as identified in Attachment 1 may render an offeror’s proposal technically unacceptable.  If the item’s description in Attachment 1 does not provide a specific quality grade, the minimum quality grade that is required to meet the terms of this Solicitation is USDA Grade Number 1. 

In the solicitation that is contemplated, the aforementioned zone will be comprised of seven (7) Groups in the area described above. Group 1 will consist of DoD/Troop customers, Groups from 2 through 7 will consist of USDA School customers in each state as Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont.  After soliciting, the Agency intends to make one award per Group.  Offerors may submit a proposal for either Group or all seven (7) Groups.  Offerors are required to propose on all items in the Schedule of Items for each Group on which it offers.  Failure to do so may result in a proposal being deemed technically unacceptable and therefore excluded from further consideration for award.  Because the Contracting Officer is not obligated to initiate negotiations, when proposing to the solicitation each offeror shall submit its most competitive proposal for each Group it has chosen to propose on.  Said proposal shall be responsive to all of the Solicitation’s requirements and free from any deficiencies.

Please see the attachments: Schedule of Items, Delivery Schedule, and Market Research Questionnaire. If interested, we strongly encourage you to respond. We appreciate and thank you in advance for any feedback. Your responses regarding this solicitation are requested back by 12:00PM (Eastern Time) on Friday, January 04, 2021. Please respond via e-mail to the following addresses: Paul.Le@dla.mil, and leah.albright@dla.mil, and Michael.Szklarski@dla.mil. PLEASE NOTE: You are only required to send back the completed PDF file “Market Research Survey 2020 - New England Zone.”