Meat, Meat Alternate and Grocery, Net Off Invoice

Clayton County Public Schools (CCPS) in Georgia issued Invitation for Bid (IFB) 025-23 on June 29, 2023, seeking qualified vendors to supply meat, meat alternates, and grocery items on a Net Off Invoice (NOI) basis to serve over 53,000 students across 67 schools and related facilities throughout Clayton County. The procurement encompasses 86 line items including frozen breakfast items (pizza bagels, flatbreads, breakfast pizzas), various cheese products (sliced, shredded, cubed, and individually wrapped formats), prepared sandwiches, pizzas in multiple sizes and flavors, potato products (fries, tots, hash browns, wedges), and turkey-based meat products (bacon, sausage, deli slices, burgers, and meatballs), with estimated total quantities exceeding 200,000 cases across all product categories. Bidders must possess a minimum of three years of experience providing meat, meat alternate, and grocery services on a NOI basis for a similarly sized school district. All pricing must be submitted through the Bonfire platform and must be inclusive of packing and transportation to individual school locations (F.O.B. Destination) with no separate fuel charges permitted. The initial contract term is one year with the potential for three successive one-year renewal periods, terminating on June 30 annually. A non-mandatory pre-bid conference was held on July 13, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. EST via Zoom (ID # 977 8948 3535), written questions were due by 3:00 p.m. on July 13, 2023, and bid proposals were due on July 21, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. All products must comply with USDA commodity codes, include CN labels where required, and meet standards for reduced sodium, reduced fat, zero trans fats, and whole grain requirements where applicable.

Successful bidders must comply with the Buy American Provision, requiring domestic agricultural commodities to constitute over 51 percent of processed products, and must register with E-Verify to comply with federal work authorization requirements. Contractors must provide proof of insurance within 15 days of award notification, including worker's compensation coverage and comprehensive general liability insurance with a minimum of $1,000,000, as well as automobile liability insurance. Prices are firm and fixed for the first contract year, with quarterly price adjustments permitted thereafter based on verified third-party market reports including USDA Agricultural Marketing Service reports, Consumer Price Index data, or Federal Milk Order announcements; however, price increases exceeding ten percent per line item may result in CCPS purchasing from alternate sources. Bidders must submit multiple compliance documents including required forms, W9 forms, contractor affidavit and agreement, bidders representation and declarations, sub-contractor affidavit and agreement, reference and release forms, food recall policies, and biosecurity policies compliant with the Bioterrorism Act of 2002. Notably, Addendum 2, issued on August 21, 2023, announced that IFB 025-23 has been cancelled and will not be awarded, effectively terminating this procurement opportunity.