Cafeteria Services Contract for U.S. Department of Transportation Headquarters Building in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Acquisition Services Division, intends to release a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a no cost cafeteria contract at the DOT Headquarters Buildings in Washington, DC. The requirement is for a contractor to operate a full service cafeteria using the existing kitchen at DOT Headquarters providing a wide variety of hot and cold menu options including healthful foods, offering a range of reasonably priced food items that appeals to all segments of the building population as shown in the there are minimum serving hours in the SOW, however these hours may be adjusted to meet the needs of DOT. Event catering services, evening meals and/or service on Saturdays may be required periodically. The cafeteria services are operated for benefit of approximately 5,500 employees in the building daily. The government does not guarantee a certain number of patrons per day Only one award will result from this requirement consistent with NAICS Code 722310. The award will be a performance based contract under the commercial items provisions in FAR part 52. Performance will begin on 25 January 2009 with a two year base period and four 2 year option periods. Options will be exercised solely at the Government's discretion as authorized by FAR 17.2. Release of the formal solicitation is planned for not later than June 6, 2008. The formal solicitation will be available electronically via this web site: www.fedbizopps.gov (reference solicitation DTOS59-08-R-00009 under, DOT, Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST), Acquisition Services. Potential offerors should be cognizant and give strict adherence to the mandatory pre-registration attendance requirement applicable to the pre-proposal conference/site visit requirement. NOTE: Pre-registration is required for admission to the "conference/site visit". No recording devices or cameras will be permitted at the conference session and/or site visits. All interested offerors shall register no later than 12:00pm June 11, 2008. PRE-REGISTRATION: An email that includes the name, address and phone number of the company, name, title, email address and phone number of the attendee(s) must be sent to contact@example.gov. PRE-CONFERENCE QUESTIONS MAY BE EMAILED TO contact@example.gov no later than 5:00pm on 13 June 2008. All questions will be answered at the conference. Final questions must be recieved by 24 June 2008 and will be answered by 25 July 2008. NO ONE WILL BE ADMITTED WITH OUT PRE-REGISTRATION. PRE -PROPOSAL/ SITE VISIT: All participants must allow enough time to sign in, clear security and be escorted to the designated conference room. The conference will begin at 1:30pm on June 20, 2008 at Department of Transportation (DOT), Headquarters (HQ) Complex, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C. Parking within the vicinity of the DOT HQ Complex is extremely limited; consequently, visitors should plan accordingly. There is no parking available in the DOT parking lot. The Navy Yard METRO stop is located directly across the street from DOT Headquarters. PROPOSALS WILL ONLY BE ACCEPTED FROM OFFERORS WHO ATTENDED THE SITE VISIT. These procedures are considered diligent in balancing adequate proposal preparation information. It is anticipated the solicitation and related documents will be provided in Microsoft Word format. All questions and comments regarding the solicitation and site visit are due not later than June 27, 2008 and shall be addressed via email to the Contract Specialist (contact@example.gov) Solicitation documents (e.g. amendments to the RFP and responses to questions) will be disseminated to offerors via the same method (FedBizOpps). THE STATE LICENSING AGENCY (SLA) HAS CHOSEN NOT TO BID ON THIS EFFORT. EVALUATION FACTORS: The Government will evaluate offers and may make award without discussions with the offers. The offer's initial proposal should contain the offer's best term from a price and technical standpoint. The government reserves the right to conduct discussions and request bid samples if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary. THE CLOSING DATE FOR THIS SOLICITATION WILL BE ANNOUNCED AFTER 16 JULY 2008. Proposals will be evaluated and scored equally on the following factors: A. REPUTATION. The Government considers the reputation of the offeror in providing food services as indicated by the program office's survey of services submitted in the offeror's proposal and the information requested of the offeror. A survey will be conducted with clients of the offeror. Health inspection reports may also be reviewed. The Government reserves the right to contact additional references. B. EXPERIENCE. The Government considers the experience and/or the ability of the offeror to provide food service under a profit/loss arrangement in facilities for a minimum of ten (10) years experience in the food service industry involving point of service marketing and state of the art equipment. The step-by-step transition plan is reviewed to ensure that the offeror has experience opening similar accounts and the plan is detailed and complete C. RESOURCES. The Government considers the resources of the offeror's organization, including regional management level staffing, training and proposed unit backup support. D. STAFFING. The Government considers the offeror's staffing levels and pattern as it is required by the facility layout, menu, patronage, and sales. Also considered is the daily and weekly man-hour coverage for functions. Human Resource approach and philosophy is considered. E. MENU CYCLE VARIETY AND HEALTHFULNESS The Government considers the offeror's provision of a complete menu cycle variety and healthfulness. Proposed innovative services and/or facility improvements are also evaluated. The Government will evaluate the compatibility of the menu cycle and innovations as they relate to the facility layout and equipment. Catering approach and healthy menu options are considered. F. SANITATION. The Government considers the offeror's sanitation practices that demonstrate conformance with food service standards. G. CONTROLS. The Government considers the offeror's accounting systems, quality assurance program and effective management data which produces information on sales, meal counts, check averages, etc., based on the contract requirements in the Statement of Work. The offeror's approach to customer service and satisfaction is considered. H. MARKETING AND PROMOTION. The Government considers the offeror's policy for marketing, specials and promotional events to promote and maintain customer interest and stimulate sales. I. PRICE AND PORTION POLICIES. The Government considers the offeror's policies on pricing, future pricing, portions, rebates/discounts and controls. J. BUDGET (PRO FORMA). The Government considers the offeror's proposed total operating budget and written explanations as it relates to the proposal, and its realistic projection of sales, costs, start up costs and profit. The Government considers the offer's proposed total operating budget and written explanations as it relates to the proposal, and its realistic projection of sales, costs and profit. Proposals will be evaluated and scored on the above evaluation factors. Reputation and Experience each are one and one-half times as important to the Government in the evaluation as any other single category. The other categories are not listed in relative order of importance. The Government will make award to the responsible offeror whose offer conforms to the solicitation and receives the highest total point score.