RFP - Food Bid Dawson County Schools

Dawson County Schools and Lumpkin County Schools have jointly issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for food distribution services to supply comprehensive K-12 school meal program products for the 2026-2027 school year. The solicitation seeks bids from qualified food distribution companies to provide dry, refrigerated, and frozen products across multiple categories including dairy, fruits and vegetables, chips and snacks, grains, entrees, staple ingredients, and beverages, with estimated quantities specified for both counties combined. Deliverables include approximately 75 dairy items, 92 fruit and vegetable items, 45 chips and snack items, 81 grain products, 75 entree items, 115 staple ingredients, and 36 beverage products, all meeting USDA grade standards with emphasis on whole grain requirements, reduced sodium formulations, and USDA Smart Snack compliance. Key qualifications include compliance with the Buy American Act (requiring over 51% U.S. agricultural components by weight or volume), maintenance of HACCP plans with 24/7 recall accessibility, and submission of certificates of liability insurance with $1,000,000 coverage limits naming both school districts as additional insureds. Evaluation will be based on a 100-point scale weighted as follows: price (25 points), service capability (15 points), experience and references (10 points), financial stability (10 points), accounting systems (5 points), personnel management (5 points), innovation (5 points), farm-to-table promotion within 100 miles (10 points), and student/staff/patron involvement (10 points). Critical deadlines include May 18, 2026 for written questions, May 27, 2026 at 9:00 AM for sealed proposal submission at the School Nutrition Department in Dawsonville, Georgia, and May 28, 2026 at 9:00 AM for proposal opening, with contract award anticipated within 60 days of opening.

The RFP does not specify set-aside designations or restrictions limiting responses to disadvantaged enterprises or particular organization types, indicating the solicitation is open to qualified vendors meeting the stated requirements. All prices must remain firm for 90-day intervals with price adjustments permitted quarterly thereafter based on third-party market publications such as USDA Agricultural Marketing Service reports or Consumer Price Index data, with adjustment requests submitted 30 days in advance; pricing must include all packing and transportation costs to designated schools with no separate fuel surcharges, and federal excise tax and state sales tax are excluded from quoted prices. The contract period runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, with options to extend for up to three months at the same pricing or renew for up to four additional one-year terms contingent on vendor performance. Payment will be made within 30 days of invoice receipt and product acceptance, with no incumbent vendors or existing contractors identified in the solicitation documents. The school districts reserve the right to award single or multiple contracts, and no specific budget range or award value is disclosed in the available materials, though estimated quantities provided in the specification document may be used to calculate potential contract volume.