Charles M. Lee

Charles M. Lee Jr. serves as a Contracting Officer responsible for managing the acquisition of fresh fruit and vegetable merchant wholesale services, ensuring timely, compliant, and cost-effective procurement to support federal operational needs. In this role, he executes full lifecycle contracting activities—from market research and solicitation development to award and contract administration—aligning all acquisitions with federal regulations and agency mission objectives. His expertise lies in procuring perishable agricultural commodities through competitive sealed bidding and negotiated methods, with a focus on maintaining supply chain integrity and food safety standards. Lee’s contractor relationships are centered on merchant wholesalers with established distribution networks capable of delivering high-volume, perishable goods under strict quality and delivery timelines. He engages with a broad base of qualified vendors, including regional and national fresh produce distributors, prioritizing reliability, logistics capability, and compliance with federal food handling requirements. His working patterns reflect a preference for open competition, with no set-asides utilized in recent acquisitions, indicating a focus on broad market access and operational efficiency over socioeconomic preferences. Consistent with his procurement patterns, Lee does not employ any socioeconomic set-asides, including 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, and all awards are made under full and open competition. This reflects a strategic alignment with mission-critical supply needs where scalability, consistent quality, and nationwide distribution capacity take precedence over socioeconomic targeting. His primary NAICS focus is 424480—Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Merchant Wholesalers—demonstrating deep expertise in the perishable food distribution sector. He specializes in procuring bulk quantities of fresh produce, managing complex logistics requirements, and ensuring adherence to USDA and FDA regulatory standards. His technical domain knowledge encompasses cold chain management, produce grading standards, and just-in-time delivery protocols essential to sustaining federal food service operations.