Call for Tender for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme to Scoil Bhríde Kilcullen 19675N

Short description

The Board of Management of Scoil Bhríde Kilcullen 19675N is seeking proposals for the provision of Hot Meals under the School Meals Scheme through the Department of Social Protection (DSP) and is dependent on the level of DSP funding approved for each academic year. The School intends to facilitate the availability of this service each day of the school year for 611 students. The school calendar will be furnished to the Successful Tenderer at the start of each academic year.

Main features of the procedure

The Board of Management of Scoil Bhríde Kilcullen (the “Contracting Authority”) invites tenders (“Tenders”) to this call for tenders (“CFT”) from economic operators “Tenderers”) for the provision of the services as described in Appendix 1 to this CFT (the “Services”).
In summary, the Services comprise:
The provision of catering services to provide HOT MEALS to the students of the Contracting Authority in full compliance with the Department of Social Protection’s School Hot Meals Scheme.
The Contracting Authority requires that the Services are made available each day of the school year for the total number of students as set out in Table 1 above.
Provision of Services will begin at the earliest practicable date in academic year 2025/2026 (specific date to be agreed and subject to confirmation of funding). The school calendar will be furnished to the successful Tenderer at the beginning of each school year.
For the avoidance of doubt:
a) Please note, that it is a mandatory requirement of the Contracting Authority that Tenders are submitted on the basis that all meals will be prepared and delivered/served in accordance with service delivery model number
(the “Service Delivery Model”) listed below (do not delete any of these options):
1. Meals Pre-Prepared Off-site and Delivered Ready to Eat
The items are to be prepared off-site and are required to be delivered hot to each classroom ready to be eaten in a timely manner in advance of the student’s lunch time. Food must be at the classrooms at the beginning of the lunch break.
2. Meals Pre-Prepared Off-Site and Heated in the School’s Designated Preparation and/or Servery Area
The items are to be pre-prepared off-site and heated on-site and are required to be delivered/available to each classroom in a timely manner in advance of the student’s lunch time. Food must be at the classrooms, ready to be eaten, at the beginning of the lunch break. See further details on the designated food preparation and/or servery area in Appendix 1 below.
3. Meals Pre-Prepared Off-Site and Heated in the School by use of an External Pod or Mobile Catering Unit
The items are to be pre-prepared off-site and heated on-site and are required to be delivered/available to each classroom in a timely manner in advance of the student’s lunch time. Food must be at the classrooms, ready to be eaten, at the beginning of the lunch break. See further details on the designated food preparation and/or servery area in Appendix 1 below.
4. Meals Fully Prepared On-Site
The items are to be fully prepared on-site (in the school designated food preparation area) and are required to be served/available to each classroom in a timely manner in advance of the student’s lunch time. Food must be at the classrooms, ready to be eaten, at the beginning of the lunch break. See further details on the designated food preparation and/or servery area in Appendix 1 below.
b) No service delivery model/meal option(s) other than that listed above will be accepted and a Tender which proposes an alternative service delivery model/meal option or variations of the stated service delivery model/meal option will be deemed non-compliant and will be rejected;
c) Mandatory Site Visit, all Tenderers are required to visit and review the entire school campus at the mandatory site visit prior to submitting it’s Tender. See MR01 below for details. Tenderers should note that: Funding for the Hot School Meals Scheme (the Scheme) is provided through the Department of Social Protection (DSP). This Funding is allocated on a school-year basis and must be applied for annually by the school; There is no automatic entitlement to DSP funding in any year and all applications are considered on the available budget for the Scheme. Whilst this competition is being run for a specific period any contract that may result from this Competition (the “Services Contract”) is entirely dependent on the aforementioned funding, and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to cancel the competition or the Services Contract in the event that funding is no longer available or forthcoming; Further information on the School Meals Scheme can be found here: Department of Social Protection. For the avoidance of doubt only the provision of HOT MEALS is sought under this CFT.
It is intended to award a contract to a single service provider. The Services required are more particularly set out in Appendix 1 on page 5 of the CFT.