Fresh From Florida - Statewide Procurement of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

Good Afternoon,

 

In an effort to provide school children in the State of Florida with fresh from Florida produce and promote a healthy lifestyle, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has released a statewide procurement for fresh fruit and vegetables.  Through this procurement, FDACS seeks growers/producers who can provide fresh, high-quality, seasonal, Florida and/or USA produce products to participating school districts.  Please see the attached Invitation to Bid (ITB).

 

The purpose of this ITB is to establish maximum pricing for the fresh produce to be purchased by the current distributors of individually participating school districts for use in child nutrition food service programs throughout the State of Florida through September 30, 2012.

 

Our goal is to procure various fresh produce based on the Florida agricultural harvesting timeline, and therefore we will solicit responses from growers/producers during five separate growing seasons.  This first procurement will be the smallest as few Florida products are grown in quantity during the summer months and will consist of two products, cucumbers and okra.  The remaining solicitation time frames and agricultural products can be reviewed on page 29 of the attached ITB.

 

The Department will host four pre-bidder conferences (one in each region of the state) during the second week in June at the following dates, locations and times.  The bid is separated by region (four regions) and growers/producers can bid on one or multiple regions depending on their capabilities.

 

Region 1               Date/Time:         June 12, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. (Central Standard Time)

                                Place:                    Jackson County School Board

                                                                2903 Jefferson St.

                                                                Marianna, FL  32446

                               

Region 2               Date/Time:         June 14, 2012, at 3:00 p.m.

                                Place:                    Thelma Parker Center

                                                                1239 NW 4^th Street

                                                                Ocala, FL  34475

 

Region 3               Date/Time:         June 14, 2012, at 10:00 a.m.

                                Place:                    UF IFAS Extension Office

                                                                1303 17^th Street West

                                                                Palmetto, FL 34221

 

Region 4               Date/Time:         June 13, 2012, at 1:00 p.m.

                                Place:                    Palm Beach County School Food Service

                                                                3661 interstate Park Road North, Suite 100

                                                                Riviera Beach, FL 33404

 

If you all could please assist us in disseminating this information to the Florida growers, we would greatly appreciate it.

 

If a grower has specific questions relating to this procurement, please have them contact Christie Hutchinson, Director of Purchasing, via e-mail at christie.hutchinson@freshfromflorida.com by June 19, 2012.

 

Thank you,

 

Christie Meresse

Food, Nutrition and Wellness

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

600 S. Calhoun Street, suite 120

Tallahassee, Florida 32399

Phone: 850-617-7427

Christine.meresse@freshfromflorida.com