Local food for schools cooperative contracts

Issued by SCHOOL DISTRICTS - Utah State Board of Education. Reference #USBE-JB26254-RFP. Issuing Procurement Unit: Utah State Board of Education

UTAH STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS SOLICITATION # USBE-JB26254-RFP Local Food for Schools Cooperative Contracts

This Request for Proposals (“RFP”), having been determined to be the appropriate procurement method to provide the best value to the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), is designed to provide interested Offerors with sufficient basic information to submit proposals. This RFP is issued in accordance with the Utah Procurement Code and applicable administrative rules of the Utah Administrative Code. If any provision of this RFP conflicts with the Utah Procurement Code or Utah Administrative Code, then the Utah Procurement Code or Utah Administrative Code will take precedence.

Issuing Procurement Unit, Conducting Procurement Unit, and Solicitation Number: USBE is the issuing procurement unit and conducting procurement unit for this RFP (referred to as “USBE”). The reference number for this RFP is listed above. This solicitation number must be referenced on all proposals, correspondence, and documentation submitted to USBE relating to this RFP.

Purpose of this Solicitation: The purpose of this RFP is to establish cooperative contracts with qualified Utah small local beef and tree fruit producers that meet the requirements of this RFP, enabling Utah School Food Authorities (SFAs) to purchase those locally produced products directly from contracted vendors and increasing access to local markets. Please see the Scope of Work attached in the Files section for further details.

Contract Award: It is anticipated this RFP will result in multiple contract awards. The methodology or formula that will be used to determine the number of contract awards is: All Offerors that meet or exceed the minimum evaluation threshold established for the applicable category will receive a contract award. The following categories are available for an award: 1. Raw Ground Beef (Chubs) 2. Raw Ground Beef (Pre-formed Patties) 3. Fresh Whole Tree Fruit (Apples, Peaches, Pears, Cherries) 4. Frozen Sliced/Diced Tree Fruit 5. Dried Tree Fruit Offerors may submit a proposal for one category, multiple categories, or all categories.

Any contract resulting from this RFP will be for 1 year. However, USBE reserves the right to terminate the contract at any time in accordance with the provisions set forth in the State of Utah Standard Terms and Conditions.

Pricing structure: This RFP will result in cooperative contract(s) available for use by Utah SFAs. USBE does not guarantee any purchase volume or contract value. Participating SFAs may place orders directly with awarded vendor(s) and will be responsible for payment.

Cost proposals will be evaluated separately for each product category. Offerors may submit pricing for one category, multiple categories, or all categories. Pricing submitted for one category will only be compared to pricing submitted by other Offerors for that same category. Cost scores are calculated independently for each category and are not combined across categories for evaluation purposes. An Offeror may receive different cost scores and different award outcomes in different categories. Offerors are only required to provide pricing for the categories for which they wish to be considered. Failure to submit pricing for a category will be interpreted as the Offeror declining consideration for that category.

Pricing submitted for evaluation purposes does not represent a guaranteed quantity of purchases or a guaranteed contract value.

Additional Information: Offerors are prohibited from communications regarding this RFP with the USBE staff, evaluation committee members, or other associated individuals EXCEPT the USBE procurement officer overseeing this RFP.

Wherever in this RFP an item is defined by using a trade name, brand name, or a manufacturer and/or model number, it is intended that the words, “or equivalent” apply; and invites the submission of equivalent products by the Offerors.

If applicable, Offerors may be required to submit product samples to assist the head of a procurement unit with independent procurement authority in evaluating whether a procurement item meets the specifications and other requirements set forth in the RFP. Product samples must be furnished free of charge unless otherwise stated in the RFP, and if not destroyed by testing, will upon written request within any deadline stated in the RFP, be returned at the Offeror's expense. Samples must be labeled or otherwise identified as specified in the RFP by the procurement unit.

USBE reserves the right to conduct discussions with the Offerors who submit proposals determined to be reasonably eligible of being selected for award, followed by an opportunity to make best and final offers pursuant to the Utah Procurement Code and applicable administrative rules, but proposals may be accepted without discussions.

Proposal Content and Evaluation: The provisions of this RFP are not intended to limit a proposal's content or exclude any relevant or essential data. Offerors are at liberty and are encouraged to expand upon the specifications to demonstrate Offeror's ability to provide USBE with a solution.

Each proposal received shall be evaluated as outlined in this RFP, the Utah Procurement Code, and applicable administrative rules in the Utah Administrative Code.

To be responsive and responsible Offerors must review and respond to the following sections of this RFP:

Requested Information: The Requested Information section includes the prerequisites all Offerors must read and agree to in order to respond to this RFP. Files: The Files section includes the standard contractual terms and conditions applicable to this RFP, as well as other documents associated with this RFP. Questions: The Questions section contains questions to which Offerors must respond in order to submit a proposal. This section also includes the objective and subjective criteria that will be used to evaluate proposals, including mandatory minimum requirements and technical criteria.

To determine which proposal provides the best value to USBE, the evaluation committee shall evaluate each responsive and responsible proposal that has not been disqualified from consideration under the provisions of the Utah Procurement Code and applicable administrative rules, using the criteria described in this RFP.

Offerors must review each section carefully.

After the evaluation and final scoring of proposals is completed, USBE shall award the contract as soon as practicable to the responsive and responsible Offeror eligible for award, subject to the Utah Procurement Code and applicable administrative rules, provided the RFP is not canceled in accordance with Utah Code Section 63G-6a-709(2)(b) and applicable administrative rules. Project closes Oct 23, 2026 9:00 AM MDT.