Provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

This tender seeks a contractor to provide hot meals under the School Meals Scheme to Gaelscoil Bhaile Munna. The service involves the daily preparation and delivery of meals to the school.

The contractor's responsibilities include:

• Meal Provision: Supplying hot meals for the School Meals Scheme. This includes options for "Cold Lunch with Drink" at €1.70 per meal and "Lunch no Drink" at €1.40 per meal. There are also provisions for "Afterschool with drink" at €1.70 and "Afterschool no drink" at €1.40, though the latter two are not currently being procured.
• Service Volume: The service is required on each of the 180 days of the school year, excluding exceptional circumstances. The estimated total contract value over a maximum 3-year term is €150,552. The estimated number of meals required is 88,560.
• Menu Requirements: Menus must include a minimum of 10% organic ingredients, in line with the "Buying Greener" strategy. Meals must consist of 4 items, including 2 servings of vegetables, salad, or fruit, and 1 serving of wholemeal or equivalent. Specific nutritional standards and meal constituents are detailed in Appendix 1 of the tender documents.
• Dietary Requirements: The food plan must accommodate students with special dietary requirements, including food intolerances, allergies, and religious observances (e.g., lactose-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and halal options).
• Delivery: Meals must be delivered to the school reception.
• Food Safety: The contractor must comply with all relevant food safety legislation, ensuring correct food temperatures from delivery to consumption.
• Packaging and Labelling: Individual packaging and labelling of meals are required, with imagery to be provided. Cutlery and napkins must be supplied where required.
• Ordering System: Tenderers must describe their proposed food ordering system (e.g., app, website, email) and the process for ordering and adjusting orders, including time limits. Imagery of the ordering system must be provided.
• Contract Management: A Key Account Manager (KAM) with proven experience in delivering similar services must be assigned. The KAM will be responsible for overall service delivery.
• Complaint/Incident Management: The contractor must outline their approach to managing and resolving complaints and incidents, including product recalls, food contamination, customer complaints, and foodborne illnesses.
• Sustainability: Tenderers must detail their approach to waste prevention and minimisation, with a focus on food waste reduction, and their use of environmentally friendly packaging. They must also describe their sustainable purchasing policy, favouring local and seasonal produce.
• Reporting: Monthly status reports detailing key information are required.

3. Background & buyer context

Gaelscoil Bhaile Munna is procuring catering services under the Department of Social Protection’s School Meals Scheme. This procurement falls below the EU procurement threshold of €750,000, allowing for an Open Procedure. The scheme aims to provide nutritional meals to children attending schools in disadvantaged areas. The contract value is estimated at €150,552 over a maximum of three years. The procurement is driven by the need to ensure a consistent and healthy meal provision for the school's pupils.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

Bidders must meet the following minimum requirements to be considered:

• Turnover requirement: A minimum average annual turnover of €50,184.00 for each of the three financial years immediately preceding the tender publication date. If tendering as a consortium, this requirement can be met by the combined turnover of consortium members. Audited financial statements for the last three years are required.
• Insurance: The successful tenderer must hold the following insurances for the contract term:
• Employer’s Liability: €13 million limit per claim.
• Public Liability: €6.5 million limit per claim.
• Product Liability: €6.5 million limit per claim and in aggregate.
• Motor Cover: Minimum €1.3 million for third-party property damage per accident.
• Crime Insurance: €100,000 per claim.
• Cyber Liability: €1 million per claim and in aggregate. Indemnity to principal clauses are required for Employer's Liability, Public Liability, and Product Liability policies.
• Certifications: Tenderers must be registered as Food Business Operators (FBOs) with the Health Service Executive (HSE) or the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM). Proof of registration or application acknowledgement is required.
• Past experience: Tenderers must demonstrate experience by providing details of at least three previous contract examples (public or private sector) within the last three years. These contracts must collectively demonstrate successful delivery of catering services of a similar nature, scale, and value. Specifically, the average number of meals produced/delivered per day across these examples must be at least 60% of the number of meals required in this tender. A written reference from three named referees for three of these contract examples is also mandatory.
• Personnel: A Key Account Manager (KAM) with proven experience in delivering similar services must be proposed. A CV (maximum 2 A4 pages) for the proposed KAM is required.
• Geographic / facility constraints: Not specified for this tender.

5. Award criteria & scoring

The contract will be awarded based on a combination of quality and price. 1,000 marks are available for qualitative assessment.

A minimum score of 70% is required for each indicated sub-criterion or sub-sub-criterion. Failure to achieve this threshold for any criterion will result in elimination. The price component is not explicitly scored but will be considered in the overall evaluation.

6. Submission requirements

Bidders must submit the following:

• Tender Response Document (TRD): Completed in full, including responses to all sections and criteria.
• Mandatory Site Visit Confirmation: Confirmation of attendance at the mandatory site visit.
• Declaration of No Conflicts of Interest: A signed declaration on company headed paper.
• Insurance Declaration: Confirmation of intent to hold required insurances.
• Financial Statements: Audited financial statements for the last three financial years.
• Previous Contract Examples: Details of at least three previous catering contracts, including client contact details.
• Client References: Written references from three referees for three of the submitted contract examples.
• FBO Registration Proof: Copy of acknowledgement of notification or approval certificate from the competent authority.
• Award Criteria Responses: Detailed responses to all qualitative award criteria within the designated boxes in the TRD.
• KAM CV: Curriculum Vitae for the proposed Key Account Manager (max 2 A4 pages).
• Imagery: Imagery of the ordering system and individual packaging/labelling.
• Tenderer’s Statement: Printed on headed notepaper and signed.
• Checklist: Completed tender submission checklist.

The submission must be made via the eTenders platform.

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

• Contract Term: The contract is for a maximum of 3 years.
• Payment Terms: Payment will be made 30 days in arrears, in line with the payment schedule.
• Service Credits: Aggregate service credits will be paid within 30 days of invoice receipt.
• Termination: Either party may terminate with 14 days' notice if the service continues for 14 calendar days without resolution. Termination for breach is possible if the breach is not remedied within 30 days of a written request.
• Sub-contracting: Not explicitly detailed, but the TRD allows for the declaration of other parties involved.
• Bonding/Guarantees: Not specified.

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Mandatory Site Visit: A mandatory site visit is required, with failure to attend resulting in disqualification. The date for this visit is not specified in the provided metadata, requiring bidders to check the full tender documents.
• Specific Dietary Requirements: The emphasis on accommodating a wide range of dietary needs (allergies, intolerances, religious observance) requires a robust and flexible food planning and preparation system.
• Green Procurement Focus: Significant marks are allocated to waste minimisation and sustainable purchasing, indicating a strong emphasis on environmental performance.
• Turnover Requirement: The minimum annual turnover of €50,184.00 is relatively low compared to the total contract value (€150,552 over 3 years), which might suggest a focus on smaller, specialised providers or a desire to encourage new entrants.
• No Explicit Price Scoring: While price is a factor, the award criteria focus heavily on quality, with 1000 marks allocated to qualitative aspects and no explicit weighting for price. This suggests price will be evaluated holistically against the quality offered.

10. SME fit assessment

This tender is potentially suitable for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with established catering operations and a strong focus on food safety and quality.

• Credible Bidders: A viable bidder would be a registered Food Business Operator with demonstrable experience in catering, particularly in providing meals to institutions or schools. They must possess the financial standing to meet the turnover requirement and have robust insurance policies in place. Experience in managing dietary requirements and a commitment to green procurement practices are essential.
• Consortium/Sub-contracting: The TRD allows for the declaration of "Other parties" and specifies "Subcontractor 1 / Consortium Member 1 Name" and "responsibility under this procurement." This indicates that consortia or sub-contracting arrangements are permitted, which could enable smaller firms to bid by pooling resources or expertise.
• Bid-Prep Effort: The bid preparation effort is likely moderate. Key tasks include gathering financial statements, detailing past contract examples with references, developing a comprehensive food plan and operational approach, and preparing the KAM CV. The detailed qualitative criteria require thoughtful responses. An estimate of 5-10 working days for a dedicated team member is plausible.
• Pwin Signal: The mandatory site visit and the detailed qualitative criteria suggest that the buyer is seeking a well-prepared and committed supplier. The relatively low turnover threshold compared to contract value might indicate openness to new providers. The absence of an explicit incumbent is noted.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT Filename: TRD - Cold Meals- Gaelscoil Bhaile Munna 20015B.docx
• eTenders CFT ID: Not surfaced in provided metadata.
• Contact / Clarification Portal: Not surfaced in provided metadata.
• Key Attachments:
• Appendix 1: School Meals Scheme Requirements (detailed meal constituents, dietary needs)
• Appendix 5: Services Contract (including Schedule D: Service Level Agreement)
• Tender Response Document (TRD) itself, containing detailed sections for responses.