Soup Kitchen Food Bank Storage & Delivery Services

The Kansas Department for Children and Families is soliciting proposals for personnel, equipment, storage, transportation, and administrative services to receive, store, and deliver USDA food items to approximately 75 soup kitchen sites throughout Kansas under the Soup Kitchen Food Bank program, with proposals due November 17, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. CST. Bidders may claim eligibility for Kansas Disabled Veteran Owned Business or Certified Business Bidder Preference categories with appropriate documentation; a current Tax Clearance Certificate from the Kansas Department of Revenue is required at submission.

The scope encompasses receiving, storing, and delivering both entitlement foods (ordered quarterly by the state) and bonus foods (surplus or price support products with unpredictable quantities and varieties) in compliance with 7 CFR Part 250.12 and USDA FNS instruction 709-5. The contractor must establish and maintain a DCF-approved automated ordering system at no cost to DCF, conduct monthly physical inventory reconciliations and quarterly joint inventories with DCF, and maintain adequate docking, cooler, dry, and freezer storage capabilities. The contractor is responsible for all losses, damage, or inventory shortages in their care and custody. Required coverage includes a minimum of $1 million per occurrence insurance and a $100,000 performance bond.

The contract runs from the award date through September 30, 2030, with options to renew for two additional twelve-month periods. Compensation is a firm, fixed unit bid price for each unit of food physically delivered to or picked up by recipient agencies. During Federal Fiscal Year 2027, the state will pay the contractor directly; in renewal years, recipient agencies will be billed directly with a minimum 30-day payment term. The contractor must remit quarterly state administrative fees collected from recipient agencies during renewal years, with the fee amount to be determined by DCF based on program costs.

Questions must be submitted in writing by October 22, 2026. No pre-bid conference is scheduled. Responses are submitted to procurement@ks.gov. The Procurement Officer is Lee Askew, 785/296-7107 or lee.askew@ks.gov. Contractors must comply with comprehensive data security requirements including NIST Cybersecurity Framework CSF 2.0, NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 Moderate baseline, FIPS 140-3 encryption, multi-factor authentication, SOC 2 Type II audits, and annual penetration testing, with all data centers located within the United States.