MRE Bakery components

This acquisition is for the procurement of Bakery Components for the Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) program. Under the solicitation the Government, DLA Troop Support would contract with the supplier(s) to provide the bakery components for this acquisition and have the supplier(s) deliver them to the MRE assemblers. The assemblers, currently 3 companies, Wornick, SOPAKCO, and AmeriQual would take the bakery components into their inventory and place them into MRE meal bags as they assemble the end-item meals. The solicitation will be an unrestricted, full and open competition 10 U.S.C.2304(c)(3) acquisition. Contract(s) awarded per line item under this solicitation will be a long term, indefinite quantity, firm fixed price, for a total tiered contract term of 5 years. Contract will consist of (5) 12-month Tiered periods. The bakery item count per case is subsequent to change for the duration of the contract based on revisions to MRE Menus XXXVII-XXXXI. The bakery selections in the MRE menus consist of the following 15 items: LINE# NSN DESCRIPTION 0001 8920-01-479-1847 Cookies, Regular, Chocolate Chip, Plain, Crisp 0002 8920-01-610-1980 Cookies, Regular, Oatmeal, Chocolate Chunk, Crisp 0003 8920-01-490-3557 Cookies, Regular, Oatmeal, Plain, Crisp 0004 8920-01-527-8069 Muffin Top, Chocolate Banana Nut, Trans Fat Free 0005 8920-01-579-3687 Muffin Top, Maple, Trans Fat Free 0006 8920-01-620-9442 Pound Cake, Applesauce, Trans Fat Free 0007 8920-01-512-7624 Pound Cake, Carrot, Trans Fat Free 0008 8920-01-458-0130 Pound Cake, Lemon Poppy Seed, Trans Fat Free 0009 8920-01-545-1391 Pound Cake, Marble Trans Fat Free 0010 8920-01-480-4436 Pound Cake, Spice, Trans Fat Free 0011 8920-01-348-4694 Pound Cake, Vanilla, Trans Fat Free 0012 8920-01-458-7325 Snack Bread, Fortified, Wheat Snack Bread, Single Pack 0013 8920-01-610-1857 Snack Bread, Fortified, White Wheat Snack Bread 0014 8920-01-525-3622 Tortillas, Plain 0015 8920-01-621-2384 Tortillas, Chipotle Offerors are required to submit Product Demonstration Models (PDMs) for each item as part of their proposals. The PDMs must be received no later than the time set for closing of offers. Offers will be evaluated to determine compliance with all characteristics listed for evaluation under FAR 52.212-2, as provided later in this solicitation. Failure to furnish and PDMs by the time specified in the solicitation may be cause for rejection of the entire proposal. An offer may be rejected, as appropriate, under the late offer clause, for technical unacceptability, or because additional submissions will be tantamount to submission of new or alternate offers. A cover letter may accompany the offer to set forth any information you wish to bring to the attention of the Government. Submission Process for New, Replacement, and Replenishment PDMs: A total of 106 PDMs of each item shall be submitted as follows: A total of 32 PDMs of each item shall be sent to: DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY RDNS-SEC-EMR (Jill Bates) NATICK SOLDIER SYSTEMS CENTER 10 GENERAL GREENE AVENUE NATICK, MA 01760 Note: The end or side of the Case should have a label, or be printed on the Case, with the following information: Product Demonstration Model Contract Number Product Identity Lot# Company Name and Address Point of Contact Name and Phone Number Inside the Case, along with the 32 PDMs, should be the required paperwork fully identifying the item; the lot number; the contractor; the subcontractor (i.e., supplier of CFM accessory-pack food items and bulk-packed food items1/); the contract number; the type of ration; the type of PDM (New, Replenishment, or Replacement); the current PDM lot number; USDA certification as applicable; analytical and microbiological test results performed by contractor and/or Government; any other information to assist in identifying the product and conducting the evaluation. Analytical and microbiological test results, wherever required, must be submitted with PDMs. 1/Bulk-packed means packing prior to finished-product packaging. For items requiring Government origin inspection: a. The contractor shall submit a total of 70 New or Replacement PDMs to the cognizant in-plant Government inspector (GQAR) for Government use. In this instance, the offeror shall advise the Government inspector prior to production of the PDMs and shall obtain a signed statement from the inspector confirming possession of the PDMs and identifying the PDMs as from the same production lot as those submitted to Natick. The offeror shall submit this statement(s) along with three PDMs to DLA Troop Support (c/o the applicable Contract Specialist). These four PDMs must come from the same product-code as those submitted to Natick and to the GQAR. b. The GQAR shall collect a total of 70 Replenishment PDMs for Government use. The offeror shall submit three PDMs to DLA Troop Support (c/o the applicable Contract Specialist). These 3 PDMs must come from the same product-code as those submitted to Natick and collected by the GQAR. Contractors may possess their own sets of approved PDMs that were derived from identical finished-component production lots and/or identical bulk-component production lots; to be referred to as in-common product-code PDMs. The submitting Contractor will send written notification of in-common product-code submissions, endorsed by each participating Contractor, to DLA Troop Support for approval by the Contracting Officer. DLA Troop Support shall notify Natick as to which contractors are submitting what in-common product-codes. Once notified of Contracting Officer approval, the submitting Contractor shall include in its submission package the identity of the Contractors for whom the submission pertains. The submitting Contractor shall also be responsible for the distribution and shipment of any in-common product-code PDM samples to Natick, to DLA Troop Support, and, for items requiring Government origin inspection, to on-site and off-site GQARs. The GQAR at each participating Contractor shall receive their required 70 PDM samples. The remaining 4 PDMs for each item shall be mailed along with your technical proposal to DLA Troop Support (Attn. Tiendung Nguyen) at the address indicated on block 8 of the SF33 and must come from the same product lot code as those submitted to Natick and the GQAR.