On behalf of the AbilityOne Program, NISH, a designated central nonprofit agency, is pursuing potential partnerships with U.S. commercial manufacturers of coffee for the purpose of providing employment for people who are blind or severely disabled. If the federal customer selects one of the responding manufacturers, the end result will be a co-brand agreement between the manufacturer and the selected Non-Profit Agency, and its registered brands (AbilityOne). The coffee must meet and/or exceed FAR and other Federal Government published standards, Executive Orders and Federal Agency requirements. The United States Navy is working in conjunction with NISH (AbilityOne Program) and the U.S, Army Natick Solider RD&A Center, Natick, MA, in soliciting Premium, Nationally Recognized Coffee Companies, to provide a Medium House Blend Roasted & Ground Coffee, for Sensory Evaluation on March 31 & April 1, 2011, at the Renaissance Schaumberg Hotel & Conference Center, Chicago, IL for U.S. Navy Afloat Customers. Manufacturers do not have to attend the conference NISH will present the samples. The coffee should be a medium bodied flavor coffee that is not too strong or too bold. The selected coffee should not require specialized brewing equipment; it will be brewed in existing Navy equipment and should meet the quality of the brewed coffee at the time of Sensory Evaluation. All interested parties should contact Rose Tallant, Sr. Business Development Manager, NISH Products at
[email protected] if you want to participate in this evaluation. Responses and samples should be sent to Rose Tallant no later than Friday March 23rd, 2011. Instructions for submitting samples will be provided upon receipt of interest. All questions regarding this opportunity should be submitted to Rose Tallant by Friday March 18, 2011. At a minimum, the following criteria must be met for the Sensory Evaluation: 1. Possession of a nationally known brand name that can be demonstrated to have significant appeal through evidence of substantial sales. 2. Provide a Medium House Blend Roasted & Ground Coffee that is not too strong or too bold. 3. This product must meet industry performance specifications and standards for construction, performance, sustainability and reliability. In addition the following criteria must be met for the Co-Brand Selection: 1. 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). 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. Commitment to working independently with the AbilityOne Program 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. 5. Willingness to work with the non-profit agency and NISH to ensure that the price to the end-users is a fair and reasonable price. All listed criteria must be addressed in your response. The deadline for submitting response/sample is March 23, 2011. Responses should be directed to the contact listed in this Notice. Questions should be directed to Rose Tallant at 215-728-7524.