Provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme

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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 Le Chéile ETNS. The contract value is €665,683.20. The school operates for 182 days per year, and the service must be provided on each of these days, barring exceptional circumstances. The contractor will be paid €3.20 (VAT exempt) per hot meal provided.

The scope of work includes the provision of hot meals, which can be delivered via one of four service delivery methods:

• Method 1: Meals pre-prepared off-site and delivered ready to serve.
• Method 2: Meals pre-prepared off-site and heated in the school's designated food preparation area or servery.
• Method 3: Meals pre-prepared off-site and heated in an external prefab for re-heating.
• Method 4: Meals fully prepared on-site.

The contractor must ensure the quality, safety, and nutritional content of the meals. This includes:

• Developing and maintaining a food plan that offers fresh, healthy, and nutritious food, with options for variation and evolution over the contract term.
• Accommodating dietary requirements such as food intolerances, allergies, and religious observances (lactose-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, halal options).
• Ensuring correct food temperatures from delivery to serving, in compliance with food legislation.
• Preventing food cross-contamination, particularly concerning allergies and intolerances.
• Implementing waste minimisation and management plans, focusing on food waste reduction and the use of environmentally friendly packaging.
• Adhering to a sustainable purchasing policy, favouring local and seasonal produce and suppliers with minimal waste.

The contractor will be responsible for managing the service, including handling complaints and incidents, and ensuring adequate staff resourcing with appropriate skills and training. A Key Account Manager must be assigned to oversee service delivery.

3. Background & buyer context

This procurement is for the provision of hot meals under the Department of Social Protection's School Meals Scheme to Le Chéile ETNS. The scheme aims to provide nutritional meals to students. The tender is being issued now to secure a service provider for this essential school function. Le Chéile ETNS is located at Mornington Road, Drogheda, Co. Louth. The contract value suggests a requirement for a consistent, high-volume catering service over the contract's duration. The procurement is conducted under an Open Procedure, indicating it is open to all eligible economic operators.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

• Turnover requirement: Tenderers must demonstrate a minimum average annual turnover equal to or greater than €221,894.40 for each of the three financial years preceding the CFT publication. For consortia, this requirement can be met by the combined turnover of members. Audited financial statements with an unqualified audit report are required.
• Insurance: The successful tenderer must hold the following insurances for the contract term:
• Employer's Liability: €13 million limit per claim or series of claims.
• Public Liability: €6.5 million limit per claim or series of claims.
• 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.
• Professional Indemnity: €6.5 million limit per claim (relevant for Service Delivery Models 2, 3, or 4).
• Note: Employer's Liability, Public Liability, and Product Liability policies must include an indemnity to principal's clause.
• Certifications: Tenderers must be registered as Food Business Operators (FBOs) with the HSE, local authority, or DAFM. Proof of registration or submitted notification is required.
• Past experience: Tenderers must provide details of at least three previous contract examples (public or private sector) within the last three years. These contracts must be for hot catering services of a similar nature, scale, and value to those detailed in the CFT. Collectively, these examples must demonstrate an average of 60% or more of the meals required in this competition. Written references from three referees for each contract example are mandatory.
• Personnel: A Key Account Manager (KAM) must be assigned, with proven experience in delivering services of a similar scope and scale. A CV (max 2 A4 pages) for the proposed KAM and a nominated back-up KAM is required.
• Geographic / facility constraints: Not specified for this tender.

5. Award criteria & scoring

Criterion Weight (%) Sub-criteria