Region 9 Food Distributor-GPO RFP 2027-2028

The Central Indiana Education Service Center (CIESC) Region 9 Cooperative is soliciting competitive sealed proposals for K-12 food distributor and Group Purchasing Organization services across 17 participating school districts in Indiana for the 2027-2028 school year, with proposals due November 3, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. via online submission and a one-year contract term beginning July 1, 2027. The RFP includes optional participation goals (not hard requirements) for small, minority-owned, women-owned, and historically underutilized businesses.

The scope encompasses supply of USDA commodities and commercial food items to approximately 145 delivery locations across central Indiana, with commodity management through K12 and ProcessorLink systems, online ordering capabilities, quarterly business reviews, and comprehensive performance reporting. The vendor must maintain a 98 percent fill rate on original orders and 95 percent on-time delivery rate while charging an administrative fee of $0.20 per delivered case. Rebates, discounts, and incentives must be fully disclosed and passed directly to school districts.

The incumbent is US Foods, which spent approximately $23 million with the cooperative during the 2025-2026 school year. The contract includes potential annual renewal without competitive bidding for up to four additional years, not to exceed five years total.

Vendors must demonstrate three or more consecutive years of continuous operation supplying K-12 school districts in Indiana; financial stability with cash-flow capacity to accept payment 30 to 45 days after invoicing; and Indiana school district references. All responses must include Program Value Worksheets with detailed pricing current as of the week of October 5, 2026. Evaluation criteria weight program value (30 points), firm operations for orders and delivery (25 points), policies and procedures (15 points), benefits of firm (15 points), exceptions to terms (10 points), firm operations for online capabilities (10 points), and commodity operations (5 points), totaling 155 points.

Questions are due October 7, 2026, with responses issued October 16, 2026. Evaluation is scheduled through December 4, 2026, board approval on December 9, 2026. Vendors must comply with USDA Buy American provisions, nondiscrimination statutes, E-Verify employment verification, and federal food-safety and HACCP protocols.