Call for Tender for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme to Scoil na mBráithre - 16713D

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1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

This tender seeks a contractor to provide hot meals under the School Meals Scheme to Scoil na mBráithre. The contract will cover the provision of these meals for the school's 182 operational days per year. The estimated value of the contract is €83,865.60.

The core activities for the successful contractor include:

• Meal Provision: Supplying hot meals prepared from raw ingredients, with a minimum of 10% organic ingredients by value in specified categories (cereals, fresh beef, lamb, pork, poultry, fish, vegetables, dairy).
• Service Delivery Models: Bidders must specify their chosen service delivery method, which can be:
• Meals Pre-Prepared Off-site and Delivered Ready to Serve.
• Meals Pre-Prepared Off-Site and Heated in the School.
• Meals Fully Prepared On-Site.
• Nutrition Standards: Meals must comply with the "Nutrition Standards for Hot School Meals" and incorporate a minimum of 10% organic ingredients by value.
• Dietary Requirements: The service must accommodate students with food intolerances, allergies, and religious observances, including lactose-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and halal options.
• Ordering System: Tenderers must detail their proposed food ordering system (e.g., app, website, email) and associated time limits for ordering and adjustments. Imagery of the ordering system must be provided.
• Food Service: This includes individual packaging and labelling of meals, provision of cutlery and napkins, and distribution to students. Imagery of packaging and labelling is required.
• Food Plan and Standards: A food plan offering variety, freshness, and nutritional value, accommodating dietary needs, must be proposed. Standards for food quality, freshness, nutritional content preservation, correct temperature control, and avoidance of cross-contamination are critical.
• Contract Management: A Key Account Manager (KAM) with relevant experience must be assigned, along with a nominated back-up KAM.
• Complaint/Incident Management: A clear approach to managing and resolving product recalls, food contamination, customer complaints, medical incidents (e.g., foodborne illness, allergies), and food quality issues is required.
• Staff Resourcing: Ensuring continuous resourcing with skilled, trained, and experienced personnel, including measures for training, succession planning, and replacement for absences.
• Green Procurement: Implementing waste minimisation strategies (focusing on food waste), using environmentally friendly packaging, reducing plastics, and a sustainable purchasing policy favouring local, seasonal, and low-waste suppliers.
• Reporting: Monthly status reports detailing key information are required.

The contract is for 182 school days per year.

3. Background & buyer context

Scoil na mBráithre is procuring hot meal services under the Department of Social Protection's School Meals Scheme. This procurement is conducted as an Open Procedure, falling below the EU threshold of €750,000. The school is located at Monastery Rd, Doon, Co Limerick. The tender aims to ensure a consistent, safe, and efficient catering service for its students, adhering to specific nutritional and sustainability standards. The publication date for this tender was 13/11/2026, with a submission deadline of 04/12/2026.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

Bidders must meet the following mandatory requirements to be considered:

• Turnover requirement: A minimum average annual turnover of €27,955.20 for each of the three financial years immediately preceding the tender publication date. This requirement can be met by the combined turnover of consortium members.
• 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.
• Professional Indemnity: €6.5 million limit per claim (only relevant for Service Delivery Models 2, 3, or 4 involving fit-out works).
• 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.
• Certifications: Tenderers must be registered as Food Business Operators (FBOs) with the relevant competent authority (HSE, local authority, or DAFM).
• Past experience: Tenderers must demonstrate experience by providing details of at least three previous contract examples within the last three years. These contracts must be for hot catering services of a similar nature, scale, and value. Collectively, these examples must demonstrate the ability to produce/deliver at least 60% of the number of meals required in this tender. Written references from three named referees for these contracts are mandatory.
• Personnel: A Key Account Manager (KAM) must be nominated, possessing a Food Safety/HACCP qualification and a minimum of 2 years' experience in a similar role. A nominated back-up KAM is also 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, with qualitative criteria accounting for 1,000 marks. A minimum score of 70% is required for each sub-criterion and sub-sub-criterion where indicated. Failure to achieve this threshold will result in elimination.

Criterion Weight (%) Sub-criteria