RFI: MCICOM Regional Garrison Food Services Follow-on Effort

The Installations & Logistics, Marine Corps Installations Command is anticipating future requirements for the Regional Garrison Food Services in support of Continental United States (CONUS) Marine Corp installations, with one requirement in support of 27 garrison Mess Halls located on the East Coast and another requirement for 20 garrison Mess Halls located on the West Coast.

The anticipated effort will involve the awardee being responsible for providing year-round high quality meal preparation and facility management to include supplying and maintaining all necessary equipment required during performance. The NAICS code for this anticipated requirement is 722310 – Food Service Contractors.

The Government is seeking feedback from industry to help determine the optimal business arrangement and contracting vehicle to meet the Government’s need and facilitate successful Contractor performance. THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) IS ISSUED SOLELY FOR INFORMATION GATHERING AND PLANNING PURPOSES AS THE GOVERNMENT IS REFINING THEIR REQUIREMENT. THIS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND QUESTIONS CONTAINED WITHIN SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS DECISIONS BY THE GOVERNMENT. THE SUBMISSION OF DATA IS HIGHLY ENCOURAGED AND ALLOWED UNDER THIS RFI IN ACCORDANCE WITH FAR 15.201(e). In response to this RFI, please provide the following information:

1) Name of the firm point of contact to include phone number and email, CAGE code, small business status as listed in System for Award Management and the corresponding NAICS code.

2) Company’s experience and history with performing large scale food service contracts.

3) Please include the following questions followed by your answers in your response. Generic capability statements that do not address the following questions will not be reviewed. Quality How do you measure quality in your contracts? What are your current quality metrics? What are the most critical Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to ensure quality is delivered? How do you work with clients to improve quality if it has a negative trend?

What flexibility is required in your contracts to allow for quick and effective adjustments? What is necessary in a contract to drive quality to ensure patron/Service Member satisfaction? Operations Does your company provide Food Services across the US or are you sectorized? Most Mess Halls are located on either the West Coast or East Coast. Would your company be interested in supplying services for one or both coasts?

What is most important to ensure a successful transition between Contractors for this requirement? In the commercial sector, how are facilities and equipment handled? Are they owned and maintained by the customer or Contractor? How is the contract structured? If equipment is handled by the Contractor, how does your company ensure downtime is minimized and disruptions to operations caused by equipment failure are handled promptly?

Does your company handle maintenance and repairs, or is this function outsourced to a subcontractor? Do you use a cyclic menu and if so, what does it look like? How do you track acceptability of menu items? How often are menu items replaced? Have you operated in an additional portions/all-you-care-to-eat environment? If so, what were the challenges, and how did you address them? Do you have experience using a mobile platform for menu advertisement, mobile ordering, and/or delivery?

Describe any innovative technology solutions used in your operations (food ordering, food production, delivery process (food trucks, satellite dining facilities, robotics, grab-and-go)), and describe how these solutions ultimately benefit the customer. Do any of your dining facilities offer nationally branded concepts? Do you have experience in a college-style dining environment (e.g. meal cards that can be used at multiple establishments (dining hall, fast food, kiosk, ‘mini-mart’, etc.)?

If so, what challenges did this present for your operation and how did you address them? Pricing & Contracting Arrangement What is the length of your typical commercial contracts? If multiple years, how is pricing handled? Is it bid for multiple years at the beginning of the contract? Is it adjusted based on a single or multiple indices? If yes, please provide specifics on which indices. Are prices provided annually?

Describe what contracting type has worked best for your company and has delivered the most value for your company. Describe any contracts that were arranged in a manner not conducive to your company’s ability to perform successfully. What would your company have changed about the subject arrangement(s), and what could the customer have done better to improve the situation? In commercial contracts, how is the purchase of food handled? Is the customer involved? Are there mandatory sources? How is it priced?

For these requirements, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is a mandatory source of supply for food items. What is the best contract structure (I.e., pricing, terms & conditions, etc) when there is a mandated source? If the Government would be responsible for ordering food from DLA and paying directly, how does that impact your operations? Operationally, how would that improve or hinder your performance? Has your company utilized a pricing structure, such as stepladder pricing?

If so, please provide an example of the quantity breaks. How does your company account for fluctuating number of meals per month? Please submit responses by 1200 ET 29 Apr 2024 to:

Krissy Schneider, Contracting Officer, kristina.r.schneider.civ@usmc.mil Edward Pollack, Contract Specialist, edward.pollack@usmc.mil