Food & Beverage Vending Machine Services for District One Employee Benefit Fund

The Florida Department of Transportation, District One is issuing a Request for Proposal for food and beverage vending machine services to support the District One Employee Benefit Fund across two Polk County locations. The procurement requires vendors to provide comprehensive vending services including a diverse product selection encompassing healthy options, fresh prepared items, snacks, and branded beverages at the District One Headquarters in Bartow (serving approximately 350 employees) and the Bartow Operations Campus (serving approximately 100 employees). At the headquarters location, the vendor must maintain one micro market, one premium coffee machine, six 1000W microwaves, and two vending machines with restocking at least twice weekly, while the operations campus requires multiple drink and snack machines and one microwave with weekly restocking. The RFP requires submission of technical and price proposals in separate PDF documents to D1.Purch@dot.state.fl.us, with a mandatory pre-proposal conference and site visit on April 7, 2026, technical questions due by April 14, 2026, and technical proposals due April 23, 2026, at 9:00 AM with public opening at 10:00 AM. The price proposal opening and intended award meeting is scheduled for May 7, 2026. Vendors will be evaluated on technical merit (100 points) and price (10 points), and must provide itemized pricing for 156 specific food and beverage items. The contract term runs from July 6, 2026, through July 5, 2027, with optional renewal periods up to three additional years.

Vendors must be registered with MyFloridaMarketplace, obtain authorization to do business in Florida if out-of-state, and comply with E-Verify requirements, drug-free workplace certification, and scrutinized companies list certifications. General liability insurance with combined bodily injury limits of at least $200,000 per person and $300,000 each occurrence is required, though performance bonds are not necessary. The vendor shall provide minimum 15% commission compensation to the Employee Benefit Fund on all product sales with monthly itemized statements due by the last day of the following month. No specific set-asides for disadvantaged enterprises or minority-owned businesses are noted in the procurement documents. The RFP does not identify an incumbent vendor or specify a budget range or award value, with the Department reserving the right to accept or reject any or all proposals based on vendor responsiveness and responsibility.