Produce

General Overview The City of New Haven, Board of Education, Food and Nutrition Department (referred hereon in as “Food Service”) is soliciting a Request for Proposals from qualified respondent(s) to provide Fresh Fruit and Produce for the Food Service program during fiscal year 2024-2025.This solicitation includes summer programs, the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and Food Service school year 2024-2025 produce needs. There are approximately 224 service days, with 21,000 meals per day for the summer and school year programs. This Request for Proposal (RFP) shall not obligate the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) to purchase or contract for any goods specified herein. Furthermore, the NHPS reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals received, to negotiate with any qualified source, or to make multiple awards or to cancel in part or in its entirety this RFP if it is determined by the NHPS to be in its best interest. The selected respondent(s) must have the ability to service the school district according to the terms and conditions as set forth. The contract will be awarded to the respondent(s) whose offer is judged to be most advantageous to New Haven Public Schools Food Service in the areas of price, frequency of delivery, local purchasing, service capabilities and any other factors specific to the commodity. Price alone will not be the determining factor in this RFP. Priority will be given to category pricing and not line item. Buy American Provision The Buy American provision (7 CFR Part 210.21(d)) is one of the procurement standards SFAs must comply with when purchasing commercial food products served in the school meals programs. For unprocessed foods, the agricultural commodities must be domestic, and for processed foods they must be processed domestically using domestic agricultural food components that are comprised of over 51% domestically grown items, by weight or volume. The following are two limited exceptions when nondomestic foods may be purchased: The food or food product is not produced or manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities of a satisfactory quality; or Competitive bids reveal the cost of a United States food or food product is significantly higher than the non-domestic product. If the above exceptions apply to a food product on your bid proposal, fill out the Exception Documentation Worksheet to be submitted with your bid proposal. Fill out one form for each food item requiring an exception to the Buy American Provision Department of defense fresh fruit and vegetable program (did fresh) The USDA Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (USDA DoD Fresh) allows schools to use USDA Foods entitlement dollars to buy fresh produce. USDA DoD Fresh operates through a partnership between the USDA and the DoD Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), as well as the state distributing agencies in each participating state. Schools in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam participate in USDA DoD Fresh. USDA does not impose a cap on the amount of USDA Foods entitlement used through this program and allocations may be changed on several dates throughout the year. Food Service utilizes the Department of Defense (DOD) program for elementary and middle schools as part of their entitlement. Please visit the below website for more information on the program https://www.fns.usda.gov/usda-foods/usda-dod-fresh-fruit-and-vegetable-program Food Service Pilot Project for the Purchase of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables Section 4202 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (PL 113-79), otherwise known as the Farm Bill, amended Section 6 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 USC 1755(f)) to provide for a pilot project for the procurement of unprocessed fruits and vegetables in not more than eight states receiving funds under Section 6. USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) works closely with USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to implement this pilot project. The pilot project provides state distributing agencies (SDAs) in selected states additional flexibility in the procurement of unprocessed fruits and vegetables. School food authorities (SFAs) in selected states, or SDAs acting on behalf of participating SFAs, are permitted to competitively solicit a USDA-approved respondent using USDA Foods National School Lunch Program entitlement funds. SDAs or SFAs can also use pre-existing commercial distribution channels and relationships with growers, produce wholesalers, and distributors. Use of geographic preference, as allowed by FNS regulation, is permitted in the procurement of these products. Please visit the below website for additional information https://www.fns.usda.gov/usda-fis/pilot-project-procurement-unprocessed-fruits-and-vegetables https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food/pilot-project Buy Local Pricing Provision: When CT Grown products are purchased the names of the farms must be clearly identified on each case. We require the bidder to provide tracking of these local purchases to report how many pounds and dollars have been purchased by NHPS from each of the above-mentioned categories at any given time. Bidders’ must provide NHPS with the names of the farms providing the product in the first three categories above (Connecticut, States adjacent to CT & PA and Northeast US) when product is provided by these criteria. Bidders must have the capability to show on the package label, that all produce is a product of the United States and is traceable back to the farm. Procurement Code of conducts Respondents responding to this solicitation must abide by the USDA Procurement Code of conduct. Please see the attached NHPS policy Contract Period This is a one-year contract. The contract will begin July 1, 2024 and will continue through June 30, 2025. At the sole discretion of the New Haven Public Schools, Food and Nutrition Department, any award under this request for proposal can renewed for two (2) additional one-year periods. 1 st Option to renew period July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 2 ND Option to renew period July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027