The cooking and holding equipment procurement process is so much more than just a purchase. Pre-bid research and planning play a critical role in ensuring that your needs are met. After all, how can you know what you want if you haven’t stopped to consider your needs? Enter the pre-bid preparation process and remember that you are responsible for the contract performance management throughout.

The first step in defining your needs is to evaluate the operations of your school kitchen. Write down minimum requirements across products, services, spaces, delivery details, hookups, removals and any other relevant factors.

To confirm compliance with USDA and state laws, it is also important to research equipment specifications, as well as rules and regulations governing the procurement or purchase of equipment used in the operation and administration of federal child nutrition programs (CNPs).

After determining your wants, it’s best to compare and contrast your foodservice equipment options. Attending tradeshows and other events is an effective way to identify the cooking equipment that best aligns with your needs. These events give you the opportunity to speak to other foodservice directors, chat with vendors and get hands-on experience that can yield insights into which items best suit your foodservice operation. You can also get in-depth information on key factors, like maintenance and warranties while connecting with equipment representatives. This personal touch in the bid process is welcomed by both parties.

Once you’ve gathered all your information, it’s time to finalize your bid specification. The more comprehensive your bid specification is, the better you empower equipment dealers to accurately evaluate their ability to meet it -- and to offer you the most competitive pricing.

There are multiple players involved in cooking equipment procurement. Understanding these supports a smooth and seamless process. In addition to school nutrition operators, they include:

• Equipment Dealers: Products in the food equipment industry are sold through equipment dealers. These entities bid to deliver the equipment you’re looking to purchase.
• Factory Sales Reps: These experts are available to provide detailed information on their products. They can be useful resources during your research for your product specifications.

 These and other players in the cooking equipment procurement process can offer invaluable partnership when it comes to helping your school provide healthy lunches to its students.

What you commit to in your bid specification is what you’re going to get. Meaning, the clearer and more specific it is, the more suitable bids you’ll receive. Remember, bidders are not mind-readers and will never supply more than is included in the written specification.

Which begs the question; What should your bid specification include? When preparing your specification, consider including the following:

• The intended use of the product or the intended need for the service provided
• Detailed product requirements (materials used, color, horsepower, minimum and maximum parameters)
• Detailed service requirements (what must be provided, what service performed)
• Performance requirements (what must it do, how is the work performed)
• Product certifications, professional licenses or required training
• “Build inspection” at manufacturers facility during production
• Any space or weight restrictions
• Who handles the installation
• What utilities are available
• Warranty(time period, parts and labor, onsite service and repair, extended warranty)
• Training requirements, instructional and maintenance materials such as manuals or DVD’s
• Delivery instructions
• Quantity needed
• When and where is it needed
• Responsibilities(who hooks up the utilities, removes debris, disposes of the old equipment)

It’s also important to know that procurement guidelines for foodservice equipment are governed by state and federal law. Abiding by these guidelines facilitates a robust competition while simultaneously ensuring that your desired outcome will be met. All procurement transactions should be conducted in a manner that provides full and open competition that is consistent with procurement standards 2 CFR §200.317 - §200.326. While it may be difficult to know where to start with specifications for equipment, operators should be mindful that they cannot rely on contractors (dealers) to write their specifications for them. This eliminates any unfair competitive advantages.

Additionally, a non-federal entity must award contracts only to responsible contractors possessing the ability to perform successfully the terms and conditions of the proposed procurement. The SFA cannot consider a bidder that is being over-responsive.

Including certain clauses in your bid documents will reduce misunderstandings. Examples of this would include pre-bid visits, bidding alternates to items specified or other deviations in the procurement process. When setting specifications, include a process for questions and reply to all prospective bidders. They’ll also mitigate risks to your school district providing legal rights that your district may otherwise not have.

The cooking equipment procurement process is not complete when a bid is accepted. It hinges on order receipt. Despite best packaging and shipping efforts, products are occasionally damaged in transit. When a new piece of commercial restaurant equipment is delivered, the school food authority (SFA) maintains certain responsibilities, including checking to make sure that all components are present and in working order before signing for it. It is ultimately your responsibility as the buyer to make any damage claims.

The SFA may be responsible for other delivery-related aspects in addition to receiving and inspecting the packaging for freight damage, including:

• Signing the Bill of Lading (BOL)
• Moving the goods from the receiving location
• Temporary storage
• Final location
• Moving the goods into the kitchen
• Removing and discarding packaging
• Inspecting parts for assembly
• Assembling the equipment
• Setting in place
• Ensuring equipment is level
• Utility connections

Additionally, you can put into your bid request that equipment will be accepted after it is “set-in-place” and ready for final connections by others. Utility connections can be included, but be sure this doesn’t limit competition or is outside of the scope of work of your prospective bidders.

Before submitting an invoice for payment, be sure that the contract is complete.

More than half of the meals children eat today are served to them at school. For many of them, these meals are the only regular source of nutrition they have. As K-12 schools work to ensure that they’re providing the highest-quality food to their students, adhering to these best practices for cooking equipment procurement is a vital step in conserving costs with no sacrifice of either product or productivity.

In taking this step, you’ll position your kitchen to more effectively and efficiently serve nutritious and tasty meals to students.

https://schoolnutrition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Procurement-WhitePaper.pdf

https://childnutrition.ncpublicschools.gov/information-resources/equipment-facilities/01introduction.pdf

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title02/2cfr200_main_02.tpl (200.317 - §200.327)