Title
Chief Administrative Office recommending the Board consider the following:
1) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to terminate blanket purchase orders issued to Strauss Food Service, Sysco Sacramento, Inc., Farmer Brothers Coffee Company, National Food Group, U.S. Foodservice, Crystal Dairy Foods, Inc., Mad Butcher Meat Company, and Francis Distributing as a result of Bid No. 11-393-018 for food products and kitchen supplies on October 19, 2010; 2) Adopt a resolution exempting the purchase of food products and kitchen supplies from competitive bidding;
3) Authorize the Purchasing Agent to negotiate contracts for these food products and kitchen supplies with vendors including but not limited to those listed above, in amounts up to those budgeted by departments (Countywide expenditures estimated to be $1,200,000); and
4) Direct the Auditor-Controller to process claims for payment of invoices from the above vendors during the period of October 19, 2010 through November 9, 2010 as presented by departments without further documentation.
Resolution 170-2010
Body
Background
The Board awarded bid #11-393-018 for institutional food and kitchen supplies on October 19, 2010. The award was made to multiple vendors in order to give each County facility served the flexibility in ordering for its individual needs. After discussions with departments and vendors, however, the bid will be administratively burdensome for departments and vendors alike to implement.
The facilities served range in size and the requirements for the population served vary from facility to facility. For example, the Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF) has a much smaller population than the jail. Food for the PHF must be purchased in much smaller quantities to avoid spoilage and to provide for menu variety. Some of the large vendors are not able to supply quantities small enough to be practical for the PHF. The senior nutrition programs, jails, and juvenile treatment facilities all have different nutritional requirements, and each kitchen staff shops in accordance with these requirements.
Each vendor provides a varying level of service. Some vendors deliver and put away the food, other vendors make delivery on the dock and kitchen staff puts away the food. Some vendors are able to accept order revisions at the last minute, while others may need to make separate deliveries when orders are placed after a specified cut-off time. Some vendors are able to deliver more frequently than others. In addition, case counts and product selection vary by vendor, and the products offered by a particular vendor can change monthly, which in turn can affect a kitchen's order. Because of the diversity in specific needs, the kitchen staff indicated that the process to obtain specific product quotes for their particular quantity is time consuming and complicated, and difficult to document and verify.
Reason for Recommendation
Based on the above, it is recommended that contracts be negotiated individually in order to obtain for the County the best combination of service, product selection and price that meets the needs of the facility.
Resolution #142-2001 (attached for reference) is currently in place, and exempts several items from competitive bidding. The proposed resolution will not amend or supersede resolution #142-2001, but will augment the exempt items by including the kitchen supplies and food products listed .
The Board is also asked to direct the Auditor-Controller to process invoices issued under the bid without requiring that departments submit verification of the vendor's price, or documentation of the department's quote process. In order to verify a vendor's price on each item on each invoice, the vendor's invoices from its distibutor would need to be submitted. While the vendors have agreed per the terms of the bid to make all their records, including invoices, available for inspection at their facilities at upon the County's request, they are not willing to provide this documentation with each invoice. Departments have been attempting to obtain quotes for their purchases in this interim period, but they have had a great deal of difficulty in soliciting quotes on identical lists of products in order to determine a definite low quote, and they have indicated that documentation of the process is cumbersome. As a result, there may not be clear and complete documentation of this process, which could possibly delay payment of invoices.