Chicago Zoological Society

Request for Proposal (RFP) for

Food Service Prime Vendor

The Chicago Zoological Society is soliciting Prime Vendor proposals to providegoods and services for use in the Chicago Zoological Society/Brookfield Zoo Foodservice Operations, Custodial Operations, and Zoo Nutritional Services Operations (Animal Commissary) for the periodcommencing on January 1, 2018 and ending on December 31, 2020.

This document outlines the Society’s guidelines for your responses. The Proposal should be submitted no later than 4:00 pm on Tuesday, August 8, 2017.Your response and any questions regarding this RFP should be addressed to:

Polly Matura

Purchasing Manager

Chicago Zoological Society

3300 S. Golf Road

Brookfield, Illinois60513

708-688-8534

Organizational Overview

The Chicago Zoological Society (CZS) is a private nonprofit organization that operates Brookfield Zoo on land owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.Opened to the public in 1934, Brookfield Zoo has been a Chicago-area treasure and family destination for more than 75 years. Brookfield Zoo is the largest suburban attraction in CookCounty, both in size and visitation. The 216-acre Zoo annually serves over two million visitors from the diverse Chicago metropolitan area. The zoo is open 365 days a year. On an average day, more than 11,000 people visit during the zoo’s peak attendance season in the summer months.

The Chicago Zoological Society’s mission is to inspire conservation leadership by connecting people with wildlife and nature. We strive to provide people of all ages and backgrounds with opportunities to learn about and care for the natural world. When it first opened, Brookfield Zoo was considered “cutting edge” for its bar-less enclosures. One of the first zoos to employ nutritionists, pathologists, veterinarians, geneticists, endocrinologists, and behavioral specialists, we continue in a tradition of innovation.

Project or Product Description

As a candidate for the Society’s Prime Vendor during the time period specified above, you will be responsible for providing goods and services to meet the needs of the Society’s Concessions, Catering, Custodial, and Zoo Nutrition (Animal Commissary) Operations. On average, the Society will spend between $1.4 and $1.6 million dollars per annum with its selected Prime vendor (Please note this figure is NOT a commitment or guarantee to spend this amount but rather a point of historical reference to be considered during your response to this RFP.). Specific requirements of the Prime Vendor will be addressed in the following section and accompanying sample Agreement but we would like to take this opportunity to address some guiding principles the Society utilizes in our business dealings with our Prime Vendor.

As a ConservationResourceCenter, The Chicago Zoological Society has an obligation to promote earth-friendly practices by using only those products that are environmentally responsible. Chicago Zoological Society foodservice operations will not serve food items

or use products the come from sources that deplete or harm the earth’s environments. In certain instances, vendors may be required to provide proof that products are produced utilizing environmentally sound practices.

While the Chicago Zoological Society’s strong preference is that all beef products be of North American origin, consideration will be given to imported meat products provided that the production of the product is done in an environmentally sound manner and can be documented as such. Fish and shellfish are to be caught using methods that do not harm other sea life. Farmed fish and shellfish will come from farms where habitats have not been destroyed. The selected packer will be required to demonstrate proof or origin on all meat and seafood products. The Chicago Zoological Society also has a strong commitment to utilizing locally grown and sourced fresh produce and food products and requires that proof of origin be provided to the procurement departments of foodservice and Zoo Nutrition Services with a welcome opportunity to participate in Farmers Markets. A complete nutritional analysis providing preparation, handling instructions and shelf-life information is required for each product including the manufacturer ingredient and allergen statement.

In a constant effort to reduce solid waste, Chicago Zoological Society is committed to investigating new packaging alternatives that reduce the weight, volume and environmental impact of all packaging and disposable materials. The Chicago Zoological Society’s custodial departmentalso demonstrates their commitment to green cleaning inprocurement of earth-friendly products.

Specifications & Requirements

Financial Requirements

  • The Chicago Zoological Society is a nonprofit organization incorporated in the State of Illinois and all prices provided should reflect nonprofit allowances. The Prime Vendor should provide a current list of manufacturers who offer nonprofit allowances as well as identifying the products and allowances by manufacturer.
  • All prices must be computed with a true cost-plus formula. True cost consists of the manufacturer’s invoice price plus the actual freight charges (if applicable) minus any manufacturer discounts, promotions, allowance or free goods shown on the manufacturer’s invoice. Actual freight consists of the true net freight cost minus any rebates negotiated with the freight provider. Manufacturer’s discounts, promotions, allowances or free goods are to be deducted to arrive at true cost before computing the cost-plus margin, not afterwards. Note this section on the definition of true cost will berequired in the Prime Vendor Agreement.
  • A detailed explanation on how the respondent plans to compute the cost margin to determine the sell price of split cases must be included with the RFP response.
  • The Society expects the Prime vendor to buy in the most competitive price bracket possible. This does not necessarily refer to the lowest price bracket, but a bracket that is appropriate based on the overall volume of the Prime Vendor from a given manufacturer. This bracket pricing is to be defined as but not necessarily limited to minimum, LTL (Less Than Truckload), and Truckload and based on, but not necessarily limited to cases, cube, weight, and inventory turn.
  • The Society is requesting Market Basket Pricing on specific products. For the purpose of this Agreement, a Market Basket product is a product that will maintain a fixed price for a fixed period of time (In the year 2018, this period will be defined as the first day of January through the last day of December. In years 2019 and 2020, this period is defined as the first day of January through the last day of December.)during the term of this Agreement. Market Basket products can change/update on an annual basis but at all times, these products will be representative of the key volume products purchased by the Society. The annual Market Basket Products for year 2019 and 2020will be provided to the Prime Vendor by November 1 of the preceding year and the Prime Vendor is required to respond with pricing within 30 days of receipt. For the year 2018, the Market Basket Products can be found on Schedule 1 of the accompanying Agreement. The usage quantities provided on the Market Basket Schedule are estimates only. The Society reserves the right to purchase more or less of these products and will accept no penalty for purchasing less than the estimated amounts.

If the product cannot maintain a fixed price for the requested period of time, please note this on the accompanying schedule.

Unless a product is market defined, price increases must be expressed in writing to the Society a minimum of 30 days in advance of the effective increase date with the weekly price exception for produce and protein. If the product is market defined, change of price notification must be given at time of order. All decreases in prices must be effective immediately.

The Society would prefer pricing for products be given for the actual products as described in the Market Basket Schedule. If the respondent must quote an alternate product, please utilize the alternate section in Schedule 1. Samples in full case increments of proposed alternates may be requested during the review of RFP responses.

  • All other line item pricing will be established/determined utilizing the agreed upon percentage of mark-up (as noted below). The respondent must provide their proposed mark-ups to the Society utilizing the following product classifications. These mark-ups will applied to the true cost (as defined earlier in this section). Under no circumstances will any product be sold to the Society (regardless of product classification) at a mark-up higher than those listed below.

Product Classification / Mark-up
(fill-in information below)
Dry Groceries / %
Frozen foods / %
Refrigerated Foods / %
Butter/Cheese / %
Fluid Milk / %
Oils & Shortening / %
Shell eggs / %
Ground Beef / %
Boxed Beef / %
Processed Beef / %
Pork / %
Poultry / %
Seafood / %
Produce / $ Case
Ready to Use Produce / $ Case
Disposables / %
Chemical & Janitorial / %
Equipment & Supplies / %
Split Case Upcharge / %
  • The Society reserves the right to perform a confidential non-public price audit three times during each calendar year of this Agreement. The audit will be limited to 25 products per audit and will occur on a mutually agreed upon date and time. All audits during the term of this Agreement will take place at the Prime Vendor’s facility. The Society will provide a 30 day lead time in writing on all requests for a price audit and this request will include the Prime Vendor product code number, invoice number and date, product description, price and category mark-up for verification. The Society requests that the Vendor have an Account Executive or National Accounts Manager available at the time of the audit for clarifications. If an error is discovered during the audit, any required reimbursement will be made in the full amount within seven days. If an error is discovered, the Society reserves the right to audit as far back as deemed necessary to identify any overcharges.
  • The Society is requesting 30 day payment terms on all invoices received with form of payment to be made by Check. Quick pay incentives and electronic payments will be considered.
  • The Society is requesting the Prime Vendor provide a month-end statement reflecting all open invoices. This statement can be made electronically or via U.S. mail.
  • The respondent should provide the Society with any and all Volume Incentives, Purchasing Incentives, and Quarterly Rebate Incentives available through the Prime Vendor to the Society.

Product Ordering and Delivery Related Requirements

  • It is the responsibility of the Prime Vendor selected to provide all necessary Society personnel (such as but not limited to Purchasing Manager, Purchasing agents, and buyers) access to and training on the Prime Vendor ordering and reporting system.
  • The Prime Vendor must provide and cross reference all products assigned to the Prime Vendor to be purchased by Food Service, Custodial, and Zoo Nutritional Services the complete product description, Prime Vendor code number and pack size within three (3) weeks of the awarding of the Prime Vendor Agreement.
  • During the course of this Agreement, if the Prime Vendor cannot provide the specified product, or an acceptable substitute for any reason, the Society has the right to charge back the distributor for any additional costs for goods and services bought elsewhere. Substitutions can have an adverse effect on operating standards and menus. Notification of substitutions must be conveyed to the Purchasing Manager, Food Buyer, Zoo Nutrition Services and/or Custodial purchasing agents at time of order. Substitutions of equal and/or higher quality for Market Basket items must not be delivered at a higher price than the Market Basket guaranteed price or experience a higher classification mark-up percent than outlined in the pricing formula.
  • In the event of a product recall, it is the responsibility of the Prime Vendor to notify the appropriate Society personnel to include: Purchasing Manager, Polly Matura at 708-688-8534 and Foodservice Buyer, Kevin Murphy at 708-688-8525 immediately. Specific information identifying the product and the action to be taken must be clearly documented from the manufacturer. Full credit must be issued for products affected by the recall whether destroyed by request of manufacturer or returned to distributor.
  • The Society requires a next day delivery with a 5:00 p.m. order cut off. A specific delivery time period will be established for each account number and delivery location. Prime Vendor deliveries to the Food Service Warehouse will be made in a two hour window beginning at 6:00 a.m. during peak season. Peak season will be defined as Mid May to Labor Day with the specific dates to be determined prior to the delivery period. During the shoulder season deliveries to the Food Service Warehouse must be made prior to 9:00 a.m.Delivery days during peak season are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Delivery days for the shoulder season are Tuesday and Friday. Additional deliveries may be required due to business conditions. Additional deliveries will be made prior to 4:00 p.m. with no additional expense to the Society. In order to shorten delivery times the Society requests deliveries to be made on an “Honors Drop System”.The Society will notify the supplier of any discrepancies, such as shortages, miss picks, etc. within three business days of receipt of the shipment. The Society will be scheduling personnel to unload incoming shipments at the timeframes noted above. If an exception occurs and the Prime Vendor will not be able to keep to the timeframes, the Society mandates that the Prime Vendor notify our receiving warehouse of any delays (Society contact information will be provided after awarding of the Agreement).
  • Traditionally, the Prime Vendor will schedule 3 deliveries per week in order to provide adequate warehouse service levels and ensure the freshness of perishable products such as produce, fresh meats and salads. Additional deliveries and use of refrigerated/freezer trailers at no additional charge to Chicago Zoological Society may be required during peak season especially aroundholidays. Distributors must be prepared to provide service seven days a week.
  • Society purchasing agents representing Foodservice, Zoo Nutrition Services

(Animal Commissary), and Custodial require a 5:00 p.m. cut off for placing orders for a next day delivery.

  • Zoo Nutrition Services (Animal Commissary) will always require a direct delivery and a separate account number, and invoice with 2 copies. Custodial will also require a separate account number and invoice with 2 copies but will be delivered to Guest Services food warehouse. Catered Events, Catering Services & Catering Programs will require direct deliveries to the Discovery Center, Bocaditos or Ambassador as requested at the time of order. The Prime Vendor will be required to make regular foodservice deliveries directly to Café Del Sol, and BZ Red Hots during peak season usually around holidays. Castaway Grill deliveries during peak season will be delivered to BZ Red Hots dock. Foodservice account numbers will need to be assigned to: Café Del Sol, BZ Red Hots, Castaway Grill, Catering Services, Catered Events, Catering Programs and Food Warehouse. An invoice with 2 copies is required for all foodservice deliveries.
  • The Prime Vendor must meet all quality and service levels requirements. We will demand that corrective action be taken immediately if the levels do not meet our standards.
  • All products must be received, warehoused and delivered by the distributor within the optimum temperature range and general conditions specified by the manufacturer or they will be refused upon delivery. Please include a copy of your HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point) policy. Products with concealed damage, to in include, but not limited to: dirty, wet, thawed, refrozen, packaging damage, limited shelf life, etc. will be returned to the distributor for full credit. The Prime Vendor must provide a complete detailed explanation of your return for credit policy.

General Requirements

  • The Prime Vendor must adhere to the 10 MPH speed limit within the Zoo property. All vehicles must come to a full and complete stop at stop signs and abide by all roadway directional signage in the park and on all service roads. The Zoo retains the right to inspect the Duties performed by Prime Vendor personnel while on premise at the Zoo, stop work, prescribe alterations, and monitor Prime Vendor performance of the Duties while on premise at the Zoo to ensure that the Duties are performed in accordance and consistent with the following: The Prime Vendor acknowledges that the Zoo’s primary business is the operation of a zoological park and that one of the Zoo’s primary concerns is the safety of the animals and people at the zoo, both employees and visitors; The Prime Vendor further acknowledges that the Zoo strives to maintain the good will of its patrons and the public in general and further agrees that the Prime Vendor will do nothing that willhave an adverse impact on the Zoo’s mission, its collection of animals, its employees, or endanger the public in any way.
  • The Chicago Zoological Society is committed to the goal of enhancing economicopportunities forcertified minority-owned business enterprises (MBE’s), women-owned business enterprises (WBE’s), and disadvantaged business enterprises (DBE’s) to provide goods and services for use in Foodservice Operations, Custodial Operations, and Zoo Nutritional Services Operations. The Prime Vendor must furnish the Chicago Zoological Society with detailed documentation on how they will assist the Society in meeting ourdesired levels of MBE, WBE, and DBE participation in providing goods and services tothe Society. The Society’s desired levels of participation on an annual basis during the term of this Agreement are MBE purchases at 25% and WBE/DBE purchases at 10%. The level of participation percentage is measured as the proportion of MBE andWBE/DBE annual purchases made in aggregate by CZS Foodservice Operations,Custodial Operations, and Zoo Nutritional Services Operations to the total annualpurchases from all vendors for Foodservice Operations, Custodial Operations and ZooNutritional Services Operations. The aforementioned detaileddocumentation, for example, should include information on working business relationships the Prime Vendor currently has with certifiedMBE, WBE and DBEvendors. The Prime Vendor should explain any existing programs they have that target broader inclusions of certified

MBE,WBE, DBEsbusiness relationships (commonly known as second tier participation) that may assist the Society in meeting our desired levels of MBE, WBE, and DBEparticipation. The Society would also appreciate the citing of examples of existing clients that the Prime Vendor has assisted in meeting similar participationaspirations.