Locally Grown Specialty Produce

Tucson Unified School District is seeking to enter into a contract with a produce distributor(s) to provide fresh, locally grown, specialty produce. Specialty produce will be defined as locally grown within the state of Arizona and include the USDA definition of Specialty Crop. The locally grown, specialty produce will be associated with an organized educational activity, while fulfilling the nutritional needs of a menu. Sourcing will be within the state of Arizona only, be of least cost, and must be provided with additional information such as, but not limited to, the location and name of the Arizona farm(s), years in business, other products grown, and harvest and season information. The vendor(s) selected will provide smaller delivery to the Food Services Central Warehouse only. It is the intent of the District to award a multi-term contract beginning July 1, 2026, or upon award, and continuing through June 30, 2027. If all conditions are met during this period, and it is in the best interest of the District, this contract can be extended, if funding is available, for up to one additional one-year contract or any portion thereof. However, no contract exists unless and until a purchase order is issued each fiscal year.

Background

Tucson Unified School District is a diverse public school district located in Tucson, Arizona.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 27-016-TUSD1
• Department: Food Services
• Department Head: Lindsay Aguilar (Director)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-05-18T23:00:00.000Z
• Answers Posted By: 2026-05-19T23:00:00.000Z

Meetings & Milestones

Evaluation Criteria

• Price (10 pts) —

  The price or cost of the Proposal. Price or cost is a significant factor but not the most important factor.

• Ability (10 pts) —

  The Offeror’s ability and readiness to fully perform according to the scope of work and other requirements of the Solicitation, taking into consideration any additional services, specialized services or expertise offered that would meet or exceed the requirements of the Solicitation.

• Responsiveness (10 pts) —

  The responsiveness of the Proposal to the requirements of the RFP, including an understanding of the scope of work and how it can be achieved most efficiently and effectively.

• Qualifications (10 pts) —

  The Offeror’s experience in performing comparable projects with appropriate staffing and timely completion of goals.

• Cost (30 pts) —

  While cost is the most significant factor in considering the placement of the award, it is not the only factor. The award will not be based on price alone, nor will it be based solely upon the lowest fees submitted.

• Ability to meet and satisfy the needs of the District (25 pts) —

  Ability to meet and satisfy the needs of the District, taking into consideration additional services, specialized services or expertise offered that exceed the requirements, or the vendor's inability to meet some of the requirements of the specifications. Ability to offer a variety of quality Arizona grown product to the District that will comply with USDA regulations & FFVP requirements. Notification of products when in season & market specials. Response to the proposal in clearly stating and understanding the scope of work and in meeting the requirements. Method of approach and/or implementation of services. Breadth and depth of services and perceived compliance with the scope of work.

• Qualifications (25 pts) —

  Qualifications to provide the District with these services for the required period of time, taking into consideration the product volume, service demand and size of the District by providing the necessary resources and show a history of demonstrated competence in providing these services (3 references, please). Qualifications of the Offeror, financial and otherwise, to provide the District with these services for the required period of time, provide appropriate staffing, provide necessary resources and show a history of demonstrated competence. Consideration of qualifications will include additional best value services, ability to address environmental needs or expertise offered that exceed the requirements, or the Offeror's inability to meet some of the requirements of the specifications/scope of work.

• Delivery (20 pts) —

  Qualifications of the Offeror to provide high quality Arizona grown produce in the quantities requested. Qualifications of the Offeror to provide said Arizona grown produce in a timely manner on the date(s) requested.

Submission Requirements

• Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Terms and Conditions of the Solicitation
• Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Terms and Conditions of the Solicitation (required) —

  Explanatory Note: The purpose of this question is to confirm the Bidder’s or Offeror’s acknowledgement and acceptance of the terms and conditions of the Solicitation, subject to any exceptions or modifications to terms or conditions that are expressly requested in the form or that have been requested and approved prior to submission of the Offer. All exceptions or modifications to the Solicitation, regardless of whether the District approved such items prior to submission of the Offer, must be clearly set forth in this form.

  The Offeror, by the undersigned representative, acknowledges and accepts all terms and conditions of the Solicitation, except as expressly noted below or in the additional pages attached hereto. As used in this form, “terms and conditions of Solicitation” means all terms, conditions, specifications, certifications and warranties set forth in the documents that comprise the Solicitation, including the Uniform Instructions for Offers, Special Rules for Offers (if any), General Terms and Conditions of Contract, Special Requirements of Solicitation (if any), Specifications/Scope of Work, and Solicitation Addendums (if any).

• Exception/Deviation Requested (required) —

  If you requested a deviation/exception under the Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Terms and Conditions of the Solicitation, please clearly explain the requested exception/deviation. Reference the specific language that you are taking exceptions/deviations to. Unacceptable deviations/exceptions shall remove your proposal from consideration for award. Tucson Unified School District shall be the sole judge on the acceptance of exceptions/deviations and their decision shall be final.

  Enter N/A if this does not apply.

• Request for Confidentiality of Proprietary Information —

  Explanatory Note: The purpose of this form is to request that the District treat as confidential specific information in the Offer that the Offeror or Bidder believes is a trade secret or other proprietary information. All information that is the subject of the request for confidentiality must be designated on the page or pages of the Offer in which it appears. An explanatory statement for the request must be clearly set forth in this form. Additional pages may be attached to the form. The District Representative shall review the statement and provide the determination in writing whether the information shall be protected. If the District Representative determines that the information shall be protected from disclosure, the District Representative shall inform the Bidder or Offeror in writing of such determination. Requests to protect pricing information or the entire Offer from disclosure will be denied.

• Request for Confidentiality of Proprietary Information (required) —

  The Offeror, by the undersigned representative, requests that the specific information, described below and identified on the page or pages of the Offer in which it appears, be treated as confidential information and protected from disclosure to the public.

   

  1. Description of specific information that is the subject of the request.

   

  2. The reason or reasons why the information should be treated as confidential.

   

  Enter N/A if this does not apply

• List of Subcontractors —

  The Contractor must list below the Trade, Company name, license and classification numbers of all qualified subcontractors and/or suppliers they will employ for the various portions of the work indicated. Failure on the part of the Contractor to complete this list properly may constitute sufficient grounds to reject the bid. If no subcontractors will be listed please indicate with a N/A

  Example: Trade, Company Name, ROC License #, ROC License Classification

• List of Subcontractors (required) —

  The Contractor must list below the Trade, Company name, license and classification numbers of all qualified subcontractors and/or suppliers they will employ for the various portions of the work indicated. Failure on the part of the Contractor to complete this list properly may constitute sufficient grounds to reject the bid. If no subcontractors will be listed please indicate with a N/A

  Example: Trade, Company Name, ROC License #, ROC License Classification

• Non-Collusion Affidavit
• Non-Collusion Affidavit (required) —

  You the Vendor do confirm that your persons, corporation, or company who makes the accompanying Proposal, having first been duly sworn, deposes and says:

  That such Proposal is genuine and not sham or collusive, nor made in the interest of, or behalf of, any persons not herein named, and that the Offeror has not directly or indirectly induced or solicited any other Offeror to put in a sham proposal, or any other person, firm or corporation to refrain from offering, and that the Offeror has not in any manner sought by collusion to secure for itself an advantage over any other Offeror.

• Offer and Acceptance —

  The Offer and Acceptance form within the Solicitation shall be submitted with the Offer and shall include a signature by a person authorized to sign the Offer. The signature shall signify the Offeror’s intent to be bound by the Offer and the terms of the Solicitation and, further, that the information provided is true, accurate, and complete. Failure to submit verifiable evidence of intent to be bound, such as a signature, may result in rejection of the Offer.

• Offer and Acceptance Form (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Requested Forms —

  Please complete the following downloadable forms and upload them in their respective questions.

• W-9 (required) —

  Please upload your complete W-9 here

• Certificate of Insurance (COI) (required) —

  Please upload your complete COI here

• Payment Method Form (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Additional or separate contract —

  The form of contract for any award made as a result of this proposal will be a district purchase order, referencing this bid, which shall be considered a part of the contract. The amount will be based upon the fees shown in the bid, and will take into consideration previous and anticipated expenses for the forthcoming year. If your firm will require the District to sign an additional or separate contract, a copy of the proposal contract must be included with the proposal.

• RFP Response (No Cost Proposal) (required) —

  Please Upload your RFP Response HERE. Do NOT including pricing in this area. There will be another place to upload your Cost Proposal.

• Cost Proposal (required) —

  Please upload your complete COST PROPOSAL here. Please make sure that this information is NOT included in the RFP Response Area.

• References: Provide the names, addresses, contact persons, and telephone numbers of at least three clients TUSD may contact as professional references. References must have received the same or substantially similar services to those offered to TUSD.
• Data Verification Questions —

  These questions will be utilized to confirm information you provide

• System Award Management Verification (required) —

  Please enter your company's Legal Name and/or dba Name:

• Arizona Corporation Commission (required) —

  Please enter your company's Legal Name and/or dba Name:

• Will your project have an Evaluation? (required)
• Using Federal Funding? (required)
• Is this a Cooperative Solicitation where TUSD is the lead agency (required)
• What is the Cooperative Agency who will carry this contract (required)
• Pricing (required)
• Special Terms and Conditions Verbiage (required) —

  Please check all you will require in Special Terms and Conditions

• Is software included in this purchase? (required) —

  If you click yes, additional verbiage will be added to special requirements tab

• Insurance Requirements (required) —

  Please choose which insurance requirements you will need for this project

• Partial Bids (required) —

  Yes = Acceptable

  No = Unacceptable

   

   

• Single or Multiple Award (required) —

  This sealed solicitation may be awarded to one vendor or to multiple vendors depending upon the goods/services required. Please indicate your intent.