SPA Procurement Overview
The overall goal of SPA is to comply with all regulations and to provide open and fair competition for all, while making sure the best overall pricing on quality products is obtained through the best value method.
Best value includes ability of manufacturers to service SPA, best pricing, and students acceptability. SPA strives to drive down the number of SKU's without eliminating products students will accept with the diverse demographics of SPA member districts. SPA selection and purchase of items is largely driven by student acceptability.
SPA strives to leverage purchases by category whenever possible to reduce SKU's and drive down pricing through volume purchasing. SPA also awards a single grocery/processed commodity delivery, diary, and fresh bread contract to leverage volume for better pricing. USDA Regulations have made school items unsellable to other segments which in turn has made school districts a less attractive customer. Limiting SKU's gives SPA better ability to estimate volumes and decrease excess slots at distributors for items that are only purchased by school districts. SPA's goal is to be a coordinated entity that invites more competition and more distributors being interested in having SPA as a customer.
Procuring produce in a fair and open manner is achieved using multiple vendors as produce is regional and used by both commercial and non-commercial customers. SPA collects and tabulates the information and each district completes their own analysis and chooses the vendor that best serves their needs.
Procuring ice cream in a fair and open manner is also achieved using multiple vendors as the vendors and brands available vary in quality and price. Each district is presented with a tabulation and evaluates the vendors to choose what best suits their needs.
SPA encourages the use of HUB, MWBE, and SBE as prime and sub contractors. These entities must meet the same minimum standards and requirements as the prime contractor. It is the responsibility of the prime contractor to pre-qualify any subcontractors offered as HUB, MWBE, and SBE participants. Some SPA members may have specific goals for subcontracting requirements and SPA will work with those districts to assist where ever possible to assist them in compliance with those goals.
Section 104(d) of the William F. Goodling Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-336) added a provision, Section 12(n) to the National School Lunch Act (NSLA) (42USC 1760(n), requiring school food authorities (SFAs) to purchase, to the maximum extent practical, domestic commodities or products. This Buy American provision supports the mission of the Child Nutrition Programs, which serve children nutritious meals and support American agriculture.
Whenever practical, SPA purchases American products, however sometimes they are unavailable to cost prohibitive. SPA researches thoroughly the options and members are provided with the information. A cost spreadsheet is provided for Audits with both domestic and imported pricing where both are available. Fresh produce if a particularly difficult challenge as fresh is seasonal and unexpected weather events can change options often.
SPA's goal is to comply with all regulations, procure in the most efficient and cost effective manner while always putting the tastes of the students first.