On behalf of the AbilityOne® Program, SourceAmerica, a designated central nonprofit agency, is pursuing potential partnerships with U.S. commercial manufacturers of grated parmesan cheese for the purpose of providing employment for people who are severely disabled. If successful, the result will be a co-brand agreement between the manufacturer and the AbilityOne Program, and its registered brands. The ultimate expectation is that the co-branded product will be placed on the AbilityOne Procurement List (PL) for the requirements of the Defense Logistics Agency through the Prime Vendor Program. The grated parmesan cheese must meet and/or exceed FAR and other Federal Government published standards, Executive Orders and Federal Agency requirements. At a minimum, the following criteria must be met: 1. Possession of a nationally known brand name that can be demonstrated to have significant appeal through evidence of substantial sales. 2. The product will be packaged in 1lb and 5lb containers in PET bottles with a shaker -top and tamper evident induction seal and LLDPE lined boxes, however alternate standard institutional commercial packaging may be acceptable, with the approval of the Contracting Activity. 3. The Cheese, Grated, Parmesan, must be in compliance with 21 CFR 133.146 and meet industry performance specifications and standards for construction, performance, sustainability and reliability. 4. The chosen manufacturer must be willing to set a high priority for delivering bulk materials to the non-profit agency in order to assure the agency of on-time deliveries to the federal government customer(s). 5. All products must be manufactured and lab tested, certified and customer tested to be effective according to their purpose, have current Material Safety Data sheets if necessary, and meet certifications with corresponding documentation designated by customers. 6. A willingness to enter into a multi-year agreement which includes on-going technical and production assistance and the necessary factory trained technical field support while enabling the non-profit agency to meet the criteria of the AbilityOne Program to convert material, fill containers, label, assemble and package the products thereby creating employment for people who are blind or severely disabled. 7. Commitment to working independently with the AbilityOne to market products to the Government customers under the AbilityOne Program. It is preferred that the chosen manufacturer has a dedicated team for Federal Government sales and marketing. 8. Willingness to work with the non-profit agency, (SourceAmerica) and AbilityOne to ensure that the price to the end-users is a fair and reasonable price. 9. Manufacturers' submissions must demonstrate that proposed products meet the various criteria, as well as indicate what functions the nonprofit agency's employees would perform. The deadline for response is September 15, 2014. The WRITTEN, ELECTRONIC, response should be directed to the contact listed in this Notice. Responses should address each of the product and manufacturer criteria specified above. Responses should be directed to the contact listed in this Notice. Questions should be directed to Angel Chipiwalt at
[email protected]. NOTE: The e-mail's subject line should begin with ‘Question: Sources Sought CP-08-15-14-01 Grated Parmesan Cheese.