NIH Clinical Center - Food Distribution

INTRODUCTION THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME). The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Clinical Center (CC), Office of Purchasing and Contracts (OPC) on behalf of the Nutrition Department (ND), Clinical Center (CC) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to negotiate and award a contract without providing for full and open competition (Including brand-name) to: US Foods, Inc. 9399 W Higgins Rd Ste 100 Rosemont, IL, 60018-4910, UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 311991 with a Size Standard 500. REGULATORY AUTHORITY The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2021-03, February 16, 2021. This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR subpart 13-Simplified Acquisition Procedures at an amount exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold. STATUTORY AUTHORITY This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13.5 Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items and is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold. Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13-SimplifiedAcquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6-Competition Requirements. GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Title: NIH Clinical Center - Food Distribution 2. Background Information: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the nation's foremost federally funded biomedical research institution. The Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center (CRC) is the onsite hospital for the NIH campus. The Nutrition Department is responsible for providing the best possible patient care and research support for patients of the NIH Clinical Center. Registered Dietitians provide an array of patient-care services, including nutrition assessments, counseling services, and enteral and parenteral feeding recommendations. Research support services include protocol design, dietary intake assessment, body composition analysis, data analysis, and interpretation. In addition, dietitians pursue adjunct research interests related to protocols and may serve as principal investigators for research questions related to the practice of dietetics. NIH Clinical Center patients, whether on an inpatient unit, a day hospital bed or in the outpatient clinics are offered meals and nourishments to meet individualized need. Through the use of a room service menu and CBORD (state-of-the-art integrated food management software, meals are prepared for regular and therapeutic diets, as well as diets for research protocols. This highly specialized technology allows for the integration of varied clinical and research needs through over 150 diet types, nutrition analysis of intakes, and the ability to easily change the menu to take advantage of seasonal foods and changing patient preferences. 3. Period of Performance: BASE: 4/1/2021 - 03/31/2022 Option Period 1: 4/1/2022 - 03/31/2023 Option Period 2: 4/1/2023 - 03/31/2024 Option Period 3: 4/1/2024 - 03/31/2025 Option Period 4: 4/1/2025 - 03/31/2026 CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS (SCOPE OF WORK) The NIH Clinical Center Nutrition Department intends to procure food/nourishments in order to provide meals to patients undergoing research/treatment at the Mark 0. Hatfield Clinical Research Center (CRC). Clinical Center patients, whether on an inpatient unit, a day hospital bed or in the outpatient clinics are offered meals and nourishments to meet individualized needs The Nutrition Department operates with Room Service menus. A state-of-the-art integrated food management computer system CBORD allows the service of regular and therapeutic diets, as well as diets for research protocols. CBORD is populated with all food/products /nourishments that are provided to patients undergoing research/treatment in the CRC. Every food item/product /nourishment undergoes a comprehensive review by a Registered Dietitian before it can be added to the database, included on the room service menu and served to a patient. These reviews are conducted on an ongoing basis to ensure that the Nutrition Department is in compliance with all regulatory requirements (FDA, JCAHO, etc) for safe patient care. Because patients being followed at the NIH Clinical Center are undergoing research, the Nutrition Department must not only ensure that patients receive the best nutritional care but also ensure the integrity of research protocols related to nutrition (i.e. metabolic studies). Therefore, the contractor must provide a significant match of current product (greater than 90%) so that new reviews on food/products /nourishments do not have to be completed. The contractor may submit for the Government's consideration nutritionally comparable products where both the nutritional ingredients and nutrient values would be the same (i.e. milk). The Government will review the nutritionally comparable products being offered and if acceptable will modify the product inventory listing to add these items. Products such as frozen foods, prepared foods and some canned good/soups must be a 100% match to remain in regulatory compliance. If the vendor currently does not stock any of the products requested in the current inventory list which is a material part of this contract, they should provide information immediately to the Government as to how soon these items can be added to their inventory and the proposed cost so the Government can determine whether or not it wishes to modify this contract to add these items. In addition, contractors are responsible for delivery of the specified items and services within the contract. Items in access of a particular quantity/type whether Supplies/services within allowable variations shall be adjusted under the required service when needed. Salient Characteristics Nutrition will provide vendors with a market basket of food/paper supplies including manufacturer #s, description of the product, pack size, unit of measure, annual volumes, etc. Substitutions The contractor shall make no automatic product substitutions. If the contractor fails to have a product on hand (i.e. out of stock) when the product is ordered, a product substitution shall immediately be proposed orally and/or in writing and the contractor shall not furnish the substitute product unless, at a minimum oral concurrence for the substitution has been given by the authorized representative in the Nutrition department. In the event that the contractor cannot provide an appropriate substitute the Government reserves the right to purchase the required items from another source. The Chief of the Nutrition Department and /or the Chief of Food Service must receive written notice at least 5 business days in advance for any product that is to be discontinued. The Government will make a determination as to whether or not there is any acceptable substitute for the product(s) and the contract product listing will be modified accordingly. Product Recall The contractor shall provide the Government written notification the same business day of being made aware by the product manufacturer and/or another Government entity (such as the US Department of Agriculture, US Food and Drug Administration, etc) of the recall of any food, nourishment or any other item supplied under this purchase order for consumption by a patient. Delivery Schedule and Specifications The contractor must deliver food within 24 hours following the receipt of orders where next day delivery is provided. These deliveries shall be made 2 times per week on a regular basis on Monday and Thursday. Food must arrive between the hours of 6:30- 10:00am on Mondays and between 6:30am-10:00am on Thursdays (earliest times preferred). Telephonic notification shall be provided to the designated Nutrition Department representative immediately when any delay is encountered which will impact meeting the required delivery schedule timeframe for the ordered foods /nutrition products. There may be occasional special deliveries required outside of the regularly scheduled delivery times. Unscheduled deliveries are defined as deliveries in excess of the Nutrition Departments regular weekly deliveries. Vendor must only deliver products intended for the Clinical Center Nutrition Department. All products must be delivered in a manner to avoid loss of product from pallets during the delivery/receiving process such as shrink wrapping pallets. Any vehicle operated by the contractor or its employees in performance of this contract must have the minimum liability coverage required by the state in which the performance is located. The contractor shall comply with NIH personnel identification and access requirements at NIH. The contractor is responsible to ensure identification and access documents do not expire. Inspection and Acceptance Requirements All products/nourishments delivered by the contractor will be inspected and accepted by the Nutrition Department Supply Technician and/or the QA Supervisors designee. It is highly desirable that products delivered have a shelf life of at least one week. Depending on industry standards for individual categories of products (i.e. milk/dairy, breads, meats, fresh vegetables, canned vegetables, soups, etc) and the applicable, Federal State and local health regulations, products should be clearly marked to indicate whether the date on the packaging/product is an expiration date, a "best if used by date"(i.e.product is good for 7 days after the date marked on packaging), or "sell by" date. The Government will not accept any product that is inappropriately marked/labeled (i.e. non-compliant with industry standards and/or local, state and Federal health regulations for the product) (e.g. milk dairy products provided must be marked with an expiration date, not a - best if used by or - sell by date). The Government reserves the right to return products to the contractor who agrees to accept them for full credit based on the original delivered price when: The product received is outdated (expired) or otherwise unusable (within 7 days of labeled expiration, "best if used by" or "sell by" dates) The product is received damaged or is received defective (i.e. such as spoiled meat, poor quality fruits or vegetables-which are badly bruised, soft , frozen, green bananas , vegetables that are withered , soft, evidence of molding , bruised spots, etc. Any product or nourishment that has been recalled by the manufacturer and/or another Government agency-such as when spinach and peanut butter which was recalled. Qualifications - Account Representative A Health System Specialist/Dietitian preferred must be available as a resource to the account advising Nutrition Department production manager and Dietitians regarding product substitutions, product recalls, special order items etc. The individual should be available to visit on site at least once every quarter two weeks but available daily by email and/or phone during regular business hours. Order Entry Software/Hardware Food will be ordered by the Government using an electronic on-line food ordering system. The vendor will be responsible for providing free of charge, order entry software. Software upgrades, if any, will be available free of charge. Customer Support and training for the order entry system will be provided free upon request of participating members. The contractor shall provide software interfaces to food service software packages, for price updates, ordering, availability of products and receiving. Software interface will be provided to the Nutrition Department within 30 days of request if the vendor currently has an interface. Emergency Storage Requirements In the event of extended power outage or when the customer's ability to store perishable food items for an extended period of time, the contractor must have the ability to provide refrigerated/freezer trucks, for a predetermined cost, to the customer. CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION (INCLUDING BRAND-NAME) DETERMINATION This is a requirement for Food/nourishments in order to provide meals to patients undergoing research/treatment at the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center (CRC). The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted as prescribed in FAR Part 10-Market Research. CLOSING STATEMENT This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties' bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include a technical proposal, a cost-price proposal, the period of performance, the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement. All responses must be received by March 10, 2020, 1:00 PM Eastern time and must reference pre-solicitation number 21-000537. Responses may be submitted electronically to Mr. Christopher Lauver, Contracting Specialist at contact@example.gov. Fax responses will not be accepted. "All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency."