In order to provide for food insecure Americans as well as members of the U.S. military, various government agencies will purchase and distribute fresh, nutritious U.S. dairy products. Below is information on current solicitations and how to become an approved vendor for the U.S. government purchase programs available to dairy processors.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service issues solicitations on an ongoing basis for dairy products. Approved USDA Vendors are invited to submit offers via the Web-Based Supply Chain Management System (WBSCM). Below are open AMS solicitations for dairy products and instructions on how to become a USDA approved vendor. Find past solicitations on the AMS website.
In December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced plans to purchase $60M in fluid milk and $50M in butter under Section 32 (Act of August 24, 1935) for distribution to various food and nutrition assistance programs.
According to the pre-solicitation, vendors should expect solicitations for gallons and half gallons of whole, 2% and 1% fluid milk, in addition to solicitations for CTN-36/1 LB or 30/1 LB salted butter prints, in December 2020, February 2021, May 2021 and August 2021, with deliveries for those products scheduled for all four quarters of 2021 (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4).
Time frames for each quarter are listed below:
In preparation for these bids, please review all documents as they pertain to this program, including the latest:
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In August, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) issued a Pre-solicitation Notice for Mozzarella, Process and Natural American Cheddar Cheese for the National School Lunch Program and other Federal food nutrition assistance programs. The solicitations will be issued in September 2020 for delivery beginning January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 and offers to sell the cheese products must be submitted no later than the dates specified in the solicitations.
In preparation for these bids, please review all documents as they pertain to this program, including the latest:
In mid-August, USDA AMS issued a Pre-solicitation Notice for Swiss Cheese for distribution to various food nutrition assistance programs under the authority of Section 32 of the Act of August 24, 1935.
In preparation for these bids, please review all documents as they pertain to this program, including the latest:
On January 4, USDA announced Round Five of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program valued at $1.5 billion. According to USDA, funding to support the announcement “was included in the COVID-19 relief package as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act passed December 21, 2020.” In the announcement today, USDA emphasized that "other hard, semi-hard or semi-soft cheeses" may be included in the program in addition to cheddar and other cheeses specifically mentioned in the solicitation. The expanded list of cheeses includes, “Blue, Brick, Colby, Edam, Gorgonzola, Gouda, Gruyere, Monterey, Muenster, Parmesan, Provolone and Romano,” according to USDA. IDFA has advocated for this expanded list of cheeses allowed in the program.
In this new Round Five, USDA will award contracts “to over 240 organizations that have previously received Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA). Solicitations to existing BOA holders are expected to be issued by the end of the week [Jan. 8, 2021], with contract awards expected to be made by January 19. Deliveries will begin shortly after awards are issued and continue through the end of April. Additional BOA proposals will not be reviewed nor accepted at this time.
A complete list of BOA holders can be found at: www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/RoundFourBOAHolders.pdf.
The announcement by USDA is here for your reference: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2021/01/04/usda-announces-continuation-farmers-families-food-box-program-fift
To be eligible to submit offers, dairy processors must meet the AMS vendor qualification requirements. Deliveries are expected to be to various locations in the U.S. on an FOB destination basis. Bids, modifications, withdrawals of bids, and price adjustments shall be submitted using the Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) system. If you have any questions, please contact Becky Rasdall at brasdall@idfa.org.
Senior Vice President, Trade and Workforce Policy
