MEAT

The South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) Food Service Main Warehouse issued a solicitation (5400022131) for a meat supply contract covering seven line items totaling approximately 930,000 pounds of frozen meat products. The procurement encompasses beef patties (210,000 lbs), chicken/turkey bologna (100,000 lbs), ground turkey or chicken (200,000 lbs), turkey franks (80,000 lbs), turkey roll (80,000 lbs), ground beef (120,000 lbs), and turkey ham (140,000 lbs), with delivery requirements to the SCDC Food Service Warehouse at 4422 Broad River Road in Columbia, South Carolina. The solicitation was issued on October 12, 2021, with an initial bid submission deadline of November 4, 2021, later amended to November 23, 2021, at 10:00 AM. Vendors were required to submit pricing in U.S. dollars on a unit price basis, with prices fixed for the initial six-month contract period and potential adjustments after seven months with procurement officer approval. Evaluation criteria included compliance with specific product specifications, approved brand lists, packaging requirements, and delivery schedules. The contract term is one year from the effective award date, with staggered deliveries throughout 2022 and strict requirements for palletized, shrink-wrapped shipments.

The procurement was issued under Procurement Exemption #2 for Raw Materials, making it non-protestable and restricting participation to vendors registered with the South Carolina vendor registration system. Vendors were required to comply with drug-free workplace and ethics certifications, with delivery failures subject to default provisions allowing a ten-day cure period. The total award value was $1,494,428.00, distributed among six vendors: Clark's Trading Company ($508,200.00), Spartanburg Meat Processing Company ($439,000.00), National Food Group ($298,800.00), Good Source Solutions ($183,200.00), JNS Foods LLC ($70,400.00), and Perdue/other approved brands. The solicitation did not specifically mention set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises. Line 3 (Turkey Ham) was not awarded due to budget constraints, and Line 7 was awarded to National Food Group following a protest ruling. Vendors were required to submit product samples for brand approval and could only ship brands listed in their original bids or approved substitutes, with delivery appointments to be coordinated through the SCDC contact.