This Request for Proposal (“RFP”) seeks proposals from qualified processors for pricing, product specifications, nutritional information, and other related information for district cooperative members to responsibly procure USDA Foods end products and their respective commercial equivalents. It is the intent of Wisconsin School Nutrition Purchasing Cooperative (“WiSNP Co-op”), on behalf of its school district members, to award a final contract based on the total quantities selected by the respective members for the 2024-25 school year. A processor who submits a proposal in response to this RFP will be herein after referred to as “Processor” or “Proposer.”

INTENT  

The intent of WiSNP Co-op is to provide its member districts with uniform product information and pricing to assist in the selection and determination of USDA Foods for further processing. It is also the intent of the WiSNP Co-op to ease the burden on proposers to facilitate one RFP to gather data to be used by all member districts for placing orders for USDA foods. 

The Co-op will share pricing and product information from this RFP with school district members who intend to order USDA Foods based on their district level evaluation of information and alignment with school district guidelines and preferences.  

WiSNP Co-op currently uses Gordon Food Services for a prime vendor and commodity distributor and is in the first year of a five-year, annual renewal contract.  

Administration of the School Meal Programs: The school meals programs are administered at the federal level by the Food and Nutrition Service (“FNS”) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”). At the state level, the programs are administered by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (“DPI”).  

Statutory and Regulatory Authority: Statutory authority for the Child Nutrition Programs (“CNP”) includes the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (“NSLA”) and the Child Nutrition Act (“CNA") of 1966. The statutory citations are, respectively, 42 United States Code §§ 1751 et seq. and 42 United States Code §§ 1771 et. seq. WISNP Co-op complies with the Codes of Federal Regulations (“CFR”).