ITB26-729 USDA Product Processing

The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) in Georgia is issuing Invitation to Bid (ITB) 26-729 for USDA Product Processing services to support its School Nutrition Department. This procurement seeks qualified vendors to establish a term contract for processing USDA commodity products into specified fully-cooked meat, poultry, turkey, and cheese products for school meals. Deliverables include processing and packaging beef items (patties, crumbles, steak, pot roast), poultry products (drumsticks, wings, popcorn chicken, bone-in and whole muscle chicken, General Tso chicken, chicken tamales), turkey products (roast, BBQ, sliced deli breast, ham), and cheese products (sauces and bean and cheese items), with pack sizes ranging from 10 to 40 pounds per case. All products must be fully-cooked, meet specified sodium content and whole grain percentages, comply with allergen requirements (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free designations where applicable), and satisfy nutritional requirements for school meal compliance. Required qualifications include proof of HACCP compliance, food recall procedures and biosecurity policies, current business licenses, audited financial statements for 2023 and 2024, certificates of insurance with minimum limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, and references from at least three current clients. Evaluation will award the contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder meeting all specifications. A virtual pre-bid conference is scheduled for March 17, 2026, at 11:00 AM EST (registration required by March 16), with a question submission deadline of March 20, 2026, at 12:00 PM EST and responses posted by March 27, 2026, at 4:30 PM EST. Bids must be submitted electronically via IonWave no later than March 31, 2026, at 2:00 PM EST, with a virtual public bid opening at 3:00 PM EST the same day.

The contract includes firm fixed pricing for the entire 12-month initial term beginning July 1, 2026, with four optional one-year renewal extensions subject to DCSD's offer, vendor acceptance, and DeKalb County Board of Education approval; only one price change is permitted annually at renewal/extension anniversaries. All pricing must include delivery charges F.O.B. to Boulevard Cold Storage, Inc., located at 100 Metcalf Road Extension, Forest Park, Georgia 30297. Vendors must comply with the Buy American Act (7 CFR 210.21(d)), with domestic commodities comprising over 51 percent of agricultural components, and must provide Child Nutrition labels and product formulation statements. No specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises are mentioned in the solicitation documents. No incumbent vendors or current contractors are identified in the available materials. The DCSD reserves the right to make multiple awards, accept portions of bids from multiple vendors, reject all bids, or cancel the solicitation if determined in the district's best interest. Specific award values or budget ranges are not disclosed in the procurement documents provided.