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07/22/2025 - A Texas-based company won the $238,706 catering contract that is providing three to-go style meals a day to up 600 U.S. Air Force personnel currently training in the CNMI.
And some local businesses aren’t happy with that development.
According to the procurement specifications Marianas Press found on www.highergov.com, the Air Force contract is for lunch, dinner, and midnight meals.
“The meals must adhere to specific requirements, including a seven-day rotating menu, multiple food options, and individual packaging with snacks and beverages,” the procurement specifications stated.
HigherGov said the contract opportunity was for a total small business set-aside targeting food service contractors.
“The service requires providing up to 600 daily to-go meals across three shifts from July 11 to Aug. 8, 2025, with specific meal composition requirements including 1 meat, 1 vegetable, 1 starch, dessert, snacks, and beverages. Each meal must include a rotational 7-day menu with varied options, including vegan selections, and adhere to strict food safety standards outlined in the Tri-Service Food Code.”
It added that the place of performance is near the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport, with meals to be served at a designated flightline location.
Eleanor Alinas, president of Public School System caterer Kalayaan, Inc., said that while she understands that the contract was a competitive bid open for all businesses in the U.S., local companies should have been given some measure of preference.
“I know that this contract was a small business set aside, and [Federal Acquisition Regulations] cannot explicitly say they have a local preference policy for contracts like these. However, our local community has been looking forward to this military buildup and participating in any activity that might help businesses in the CNMI,” she told Marianas Press.
Alinas said, while their company has participated in the military-sponsored industry days, there’s still a steep learning curve when it comes to becoming a contractor of the U.S. Department of Defense.
“I believe businesses have or are preparing to participate in military bids. There were questions about registering in SAM (System for Award Management) and all that. But if we have to bid against established DOD mainland contractors, small businesses like mine will not be able to compete. These off-island companies may have access to resources that local CNMI companies have to pay extra to get those additional resources. This is the reason why our bids are always going to be higher,” she said.
Case in point, Alina said, is when you walk down a grocery aisle in California and look for tomato sauce, you will see that they have many brands in that one aisle for that one product.
“Now do the same in any grocery store in the CNMI. The prices, as we all know, will be much higher, and the brands will be limited to maybe two or three. We all know this since we live in this community. DOD may not necessarily understand this. The industry day was supposed to provide local businesses with an insight into what’s coming. Yet, without ‘local preference’ in DOD RFPs, our local businesses will have a hard time competing with off-island companies,” she said.
To better support the local economy, Alinas proposes that the CNMI government negotiate with the military to request the following:
Prioritize local and regional vendors’ set-asides and preferences: Implement policies that give priority or preferential treatment to local and regional vendors in the bidding process, especially for contracts that can be fulfilled locally.
Local content requirements: Incorporate clauses that require a certain percentage of goods or services to be sourced locally, boosting the local supply chain.
Mentorship programs: Pair local vendors with experienced contractors to build capacity and improve competitiveness.
Create smaller, flexible contracts and micro and small contracts: Break larger contracts into smaller, manageable projects that local vendors are more capable of handling.
Establish a local vendor database: Maintain a registry of qualified local vendors to streamline procurement and ensure the military is aware of local capabilities.
Alinas said the CNMI government and economic development agencies must create strategic plans that align military contracting with local economic goals.
“We understand that the military’s primary focus is on operational efficiency and security, but integrating these supportive strategies can significantly enhance the economic benefits for the CNMI community. It requires intentional policy design, community engagement, and capacity-building efforts to ensure that local businesses are not left behind.”
Herman’s Modern Bakery president Joseph Lee Pan Guerrero agrees with Alinas’ argument, adding that local companies should start somewhere when military contracting is concerned.
“I find it contradictory that for such small-scale feeding, they based their decisions on prior services. How does a company here achieve the status of such if not given the opportunity? It's obvious that the military is not considerate of local businesses that can provide a taste of island food,” he said.
Angry Penne’s Joel Chan said he’s happy for the Texas company winning the catering contract.
“Good for them. I’m all for competition. If a business can adapt, find a way to make money, and get their foot in the door with these contracts, that’s part of the game; it pushes everyone to sharpen their edge or realize this line of work may not be for them.”
That said, Chan said the truth is it’s always a challenge for local businesses when companies from outside the CNMI win these bids.
“The logistics of doing business on a small island with limited resources aren’t easy. Unless they’ve figured out how to ship everything in and rent a kitchen here, we’ll see how they handle it. If they pull it off, it could still mean more jobs and more money moving in the local market, and that’s a win in itself. Best of luck to them,” he said.
CNMI special assistant for Military Affairs Edward Camacho clarified that the Texas company subcontracted the catering contract to a local company.
“When the military deploys somewhere, they do have to contract with somebody first to make sure that everything is laid out. Now, whoever that company that's contracted has to find the means to come. They're not getting all of their resources from wherever they come from. They have to come out here and subcontract that service out. So that's what I learned,” he told Marianas Press.
Camacho did acknowledge that a local vendor getting subcontracted is not the same thing as a CNMI-based company winning the full contract.
“We might not have the dollar value that maximizes, but there is some revenue coming to local companies...It's hard to find primary contractors out here that could provide everything that our service members need, especially a whole bunch of them all at one time. So, subcontracting is probably the best way. It's not just one company. They're multiplying, spreading out. Better than nothing, I'm saying.”
Camacho, however, added that he hopes DoD would find a way for one product to be locally sourced whenever U.S. troops are in the CNMI for training, and that’s drinking water.
“Anything local that we are consuming already should also be good enough for anybody else, our visitors that are coming in to consume. Now, if they just prefer Crystal Clear water to Saipan Ice or any of our local water, for example, that's a preference. Then buy it here,” he said, while adding that in his own experience, the CNMI’s freshly bottled water tastes better than the ones that have been on the shelf for a long time.”
Marianas Press reached out to the Texas company for a comment, but they have yet to respond as of the story’s publishing.
Report by Mark Rabago
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