Provision of cold school 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 cold school meals under the Department of Social Protection's School Meals Scheme to Gurtagarry National School. The estimated value of the contract is €61,506.00. The service is to be provided on each of the 180 school days per academic year, excluding exceptional circumstances.

The contractor's responsibilities include:

• Meal Provision: Supplying cold meals that meet specific nutritional and constituent requirements as detailed in Appendix 1 of the full tender documents. This includes providing a minimum of four items per meal, with specific requirements for vegetables, salad, or fruit servings, and a wholemeal or equivalent serving.
• Dietary Requirements: Offering options to accommodate students with special dietary needs, including food intolerances, allergies, and religious observances (e.g., lactose-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, halal).
• Ordering System: Implementing and managing a food ordering system (e.g., app, website, email) that allows for meal orders and adjustments within specified time limits. Imagery of the ordering system must be provided.
• Food Service: Ensuring individual packaging and labelling of meals, including the provision of cutlery and napkins where required. Imagery of individual packaging and labelling must be provided.
• Delivery: Delivering meals to agreed drop-off points at the school premises.
• Food Safety and Standards: Maintaining high standards of food nutrition, quality, variety, and freshness. This includes ensuring correct food temperatures from delivery to consumption, complying with food legislation, and avoiding cross-contamination for dietary requirements.
• Waste Management: Implementing a strategy for waste prevention and minimisation, with a focus on food waste reduction, in line with national targets.
• Sustainable Purchasing: Detailing a purchasing policy that contributes to environmental and social sustainability, potentially including favouring local and seasonal produce.
• Contract Management: Assigning a Key Account Manager (KAM) with proven experience to oversee service delivery.
• Complaint/Incident Management: Establishing a clear process for managing and resolving complaints and incidents, including product recalls, food contamination, medical incidents (e.g., foodborne illness, allergies), and food quality issues.
• Reporting: Providing monthly status reports detailing key information.

The service must be provided consistently, safely, and efficiently.

3. Background & buyer context

Gurtagarry National School is procuring cold school meals under the Department of Social Protection's School Meals Scheme. This scheme aims to provide nutritional support to children attending primary schools. The procurement is being conducted as an Open Procedure, indicating a competitive tendering process. The estimated value of the contract is below the EU threshold of €750,000, meaning it falls under national procurement regulations. The school is located in Gurtagarry, Toomevara, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. The tender documents indicate a requirement for a mandatory site visit, suggesting the school has specific logistical considerations for meal delivery and service.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

Bidders must meet the following mandatory criteria to be considered:

• Turnover requirement:
• A minimum average annual turnover equal to or greater than €20,502 for each of the three financial years immediately preceding the tender publication date.
• For consortium bids, this requirement can be met by the combined turnover of consortium members.
• Audited financial statements for the last three years are required as supporting documentation.
• Insurance:
• 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.
• A formal confirmation from the insurer or broker will be required from the successful tenderer prior to award.
• Certifications:
• Registered as Food Business Operators (FBOs) with the Health Service Executive (HSE) or Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM).
• A copy of the acknowledgement of notification or approval certificate from the competent authority must be submitted.
• Past experience:
• A minimum of three previous contract examples (public or private sector) operated within the last three years.
• These contracts must collectively demonstrate successful delivery of catering services of a similar nature, scale, and value.
• 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.
• Written references from three named referees for three contract examples are mandatory.
• Personnel:
• A Key Account Manager (KAM) must be proposed, with a CV (maximum 2 A4 pages) demonstrating relevant previous experience.
• Geographic / facility constraints:
• A mandatory site visit is required.

5. Award criteria & scoring

The contract will be awarded based on a combination of qualitative and price assessments. While a specific price/quality split percentage is not explicitly stated, the award criteria are heavily weighted towards qualitative aspects, with 1,000 marks available for qualitative assessment.

Tenderers must achieve a minimum score of 70% for each indicated sub-criterion and sub-sub-criterion. Failure to meet this threshold for any criterion will result in elimination.

6. Submission requirements

Bidders must submit their tender response using the provided Tender Response Document (TRD). Key submission components include:

• Tenderer Details: Full legal name, registered address, contact information, company registration number, and country of registration. Details of any subcontractors or consortium members.
• Mandatory Requirement Confirmation: Confirmation of attendance at the mandatory site visit and submission of the MR01 Declaration.
• Declarations:
• Declaration of no conflicts of interest and no anti-competitive behaviour, on headed paper and signed.
• Confirmation of personal circumstances, covering criminal convictions, tax compliance, and professional conduct.
• Insurance Declaration: Confirmation that required insurances will be in place upon contract award.
• Selection Criteria Documentation:
• Turnover amounts for the last three financial years, supported by audited financial statements.
• Confirmation of FBO registration with supporting documentation.
• Details of at least three previous contract examples in Section 9, including client contact details and references.
• Written client references for three contract examples.
• Award Criteria Responses: Detailed responses to each qualitative award criterion (A, B, C, D) within the designated response boxes in the TRD.
• CV for KAM: Curriculum Vitae for the proposed Key Account Manager (max 2 A4 pages).
• Imagery: Imagery of the ordering system and individual packaging/labelling.
• Checklist: Completion of the Tender Submission Checklist.
• Submission Portal: Tenders must be submitted via the eTenders platform.

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

• Contract Length: Not explicitly stated, but the service is to be provided on 180 school days per year.
• Payment Terms: Fees will be paid on a 30-day arrears basis.
• Service Level Agreements (SLAs): While specific SLAs are not detailed in the provided extract, the award criteria heavily focus on performance management, complaint resolution (3-5 days for full resolution), and contract management, implying a robust SLA framework.
• Liquidated Damages: Not specified in the extract.
• Termination: A party may terminate with 14 days' notice if a breach continues for 14 calendar days and is not remedied.
• IP Ownership: Not specified.
• Sub-contracting: Allowed, with details to be provided in the submission.
• Parent-Company Guarantee/Bond: Not specified.

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Mandatory Site Visit: This is a common requirement, but its absence of a specified date in the provided metadata suggests potential ambiguity or a need for bidders to coordinate directly with the school.
• Turnover Requirement: The minimum annual turnover of €20,502 is relatively low, suggesting the contract value is modest. This could indicate a preference for smaller, local suppliers or a less complex service.
• Combined Experience Threshold: The requirement for 60% of the meal volume to be met collectively by three contract examples, rather than individually, offers flexibility but requires careful aggregation of past performance data.
• Detailed Qualitative Criteria: The extensive breakdown of award criteria, particularly in food standards, green procurement, and contract management, indicates a strong emphasis on quality and sustainability, requiring detailed responses from bidders.
• Low Estimated Value: The total estimated value of €61,506.00 is low for a catering contract of this nature, potentially impacting the profitability and resource allocation for larger providers.

10. SME fit assessment

This tender appears to be structured to accommodate Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

• Credible Bidders: A small to medium-sized catering business with established food safety certifications (FBO registration), a track record of delivering at least three similar catering contracts within the last three years, and the capacity to meet the specified insurance levels would be well-positioned. The relatively low turnover requirement (€20,502 average annual) further supports SME participation.
• Consortium/Sub-contracting: The tender explicitly allows for consortium bids, where the turnover requirement can be met collectively. Sub-contracting is also permitted, offering flexibility for SMEs to partner or to outsource specific functions if needed.
• Indicative Bid-Prep Effort: Preparing a compliant bid would likely require 5-10 days of effort. This includes gathering financial statements, contract examples, references, developing detailed responses to the qualitative criteria (especially on food standards, sustainability, and contract management), and preparing imagery.
• Pwin Signal: The low estimated value and the specific nature of the service (cold school meals) suggest that incumbent providers or local suppliers with existing relationships might have an advantage. However, the open procedure and detailed qualitative criteria mean that a well-prepared bid focusing on quality, sustainability, and compliance can be competitive. There is no explicit mention of an incumbent.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT Filename: TRD-Cold-Lunch GURTAGARRYNS 11384I.docx
• eTenders CFT ID: Not specified in the provided metadata.
• Contact / Clarification Portal: Via the eTenders platform.
• Most Important Attachments:
• Tender Response Document (TRD)
• Appendix 1 (detailing meal requirements and contract specifics)
• Appendix 5 (Services Contract Schedule D: Service Level Agreement)