USDA Frozen Pea and Peanut Butter Color Standards

Pursuant to FAR 13.106-1(b), the USDA, Agricultural Marketing Services (AMS), intends to award a sole source contract to Color Communications, LLC located in Chicago, Illinois for the USDA Frozen Pea and the USDA Peanut Butter color standards. These standards are the official visual aids used by USDA. These color critical color standards are used for classifying colors of frozen peas, and peanut butter, as specified in the U.S. Standards for Grades of Frozen Peas and U.S. Standards for Grades of Peanut Butter respectively. Color Communications is the USDA approved source that can provide the official visual aids. The contract will be issued under FAR PART 12 Acquisition of Commercial Services. Specific characteristics of the USDA Frozen Pea color standards and the USDA Peanut Butter color standards that limit the availability to a sole source are the high standards and tolerances required for color standard visual aid production. Color standards developed for USDA are developed using CIELAB notation and primary light source to be D75, 10 degree observer and a secondary light source of D65, 10 degree observer. In general, preproduction samples must match both visually and instrumentally to within a range of ΔE = ± 1.0 of the original sample. Once the prototypes have been approved, the preproduction samples and production samples must match both visually and instrumentally. The ΔL*, Δa*, and Δb* values must be within ± 0.25 of the approved preproduction samples. The original USDA Frozen Pea color standards and the USDA Peanut Butter color standards that are currently in use were developed by Color Communications, LLC. Color Communications, LLC is an approved vendor of USDA color standards and has demonstrated their ability to meet such stringent requirements. All responsible sources capable of meeting the requirement above may submit a capability statement which shall be considered by the agency. The response must explain completely and in detail how you can meet the requirement. Interested sources who submit data are responsible for appropriately marking information if it is proprietary in nature. The Government will not reimburse participants for information they provide. This is a notice of intent to sole source with fair opportunity for all responsible sources to see the solicitation and respond if capable. Information provided is strictly voluntary. Please email responses to Beverly Brown no later than the time indicated below. Telephonic inquiries will not be honored. Closing date for submission is July 17, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) is 325510 with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees.