Foodgrade Oats Request for Proposals (RFP)

Submission Deadline: September 16, 2024 | 11:59 PM ET

About Carbon A List

Carbon A List is a climate action instigator specialized in navigating the burgeoning opportunities for climate action, especially, but not limited to, the land sector. Our mission is to help clients and partners unlock climate action in a way that creates equity, transparency, and continuous improvement. Carbon A List offers strategic consulting, methodology development and design, and project development services to a wide range of climate-centric organizations. 

About the Grant

We are leveraging our expertise and positioning to deliver on a $70 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities grant (“the Grant”). Serving as a collaboration between industry partners, the Grant is designed to develop end-to-end supply chain partnerships with the goal of both producing climate smart commodities and marketing them via brands and retailers to consumers. In coordination with its Project Partners and Service Providers, Carbon A List aims to enroll more than 350 participating farms in its climate-smart commodity incentive programs.

About the Request

This Request for Proposals (RFP) is to support the Transforming the Farmer to Consumer Supply Chain with Climate-Smart Agriculture Partnerships Project (the "Project”) funded by the Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities program offered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Transforming the Farmer to Consumer Supply Chain project is led by Carbon A List in partnership with several renowned organizations.

Scope

Carbon A List seeks Offerors for the sourcing, traceability, processing, and marketing of CSCs. Successful proposals will demonstrate a robust farmer supply network, processing capacity, commitment to processing innovation, adherence to quality standards, innovation in traceability capabilities, and strong marketing experience. Ongoing reporting and assessment will be required to document CSC properties and traceability of commodities.

The awarded Offeror will be selected to enter a multi-year contract for the processing of CSC oats. This contract will be on a quarterly reimbursement basis and will end on or before June 12, 2028. Awarded Offerors will be paid on a per metric tonne of raw CSC product basis. In addition to the flat rate per metric tonne, this contract will include a $3.00 per metric tonne premium to market the CSC to potential buyers and marketing efforts attracting suppliers to contribute to building CSC market channels. This contract will also include up to a $5.00 per metric tonne premium for measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) requirements which will support administration, segregation, traceability, reduction of contamination risks, and reporting. Additional details on data collection and reporting requirements are available in Appendix 3.

A key objective of this project is to develop resilient CSC supply chains and marketing channels linking farmers to consumers. The project strives to create supply chains with the highest quality and strongest traceability characteristics to optimize market potential. All CSC tonnage processed and reimbursed through a contract funded by the Transforming the Farmer to Consumer Supply Chain with Climate-Smart Agriculture Partnerships Project will require all oats to be sourced, traced and verified from growers enrolled in the Project. Below is a graphic outlining the CSC supply chain to be created through the execution of the forthcoming CSC Oat Processing Contract.

Project success will depend on the Offeror’s:

Experience and commitment to sourcing from regional growers, and, as applicable, their capacity to partner with small and/or underserved farmers as defined by the USDA.

Plan for meeting the quality and safety specifications outlined in Appendix 2.

Approach to traceability and innovations for tracing the CSCs throughout sourcing, processing, storage, and marketing, including monitoring, verifying, and maintaining records of processed CSCs.

Development of market plans and target audience(s) for the processed CSC.

Commitment to research, and innovation that brings additional resources, stakeholders, and other partner(s), to support expansion of the scale and impact of the project.

Eligibility Criteria

Offerors must demonstrate the ability to source, preserve identity, process, meet quality specifications and market the specified CSC within the eligible project states.

Climate-Smart Commodity of Interest: Food-grade Oats

Contract Period: January 1, 2025 to June 1, 2028

Facility Region/Location: Processing facility must be located in one of the Project-identified eligible states which include: California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Grower Network: Offeror must have the capability to source from growers located only in eligible states which include California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. The raw CSC oats must be grown on acres located within 500 miles of the processing facility and with at least one climate- smart practice in place during the growing season.

Contents of Proposals

Proposal must conform to the outline in Table 2 below to provide all information necessary for Carbon A List to evaluate the qualifications, experience and expertise of the Offeror to provide sourcing, processing, monitoring and reporting, and marketing of CSCs meeting the specifications outlined in Appendix 2.

Adherence to a standardized technical proposal format is required. The format of each proposal must contain the following elements:

INSERT TABLE HERE

Procedure for Submitting Proposals

Offerors must submit one electronic copy of a project proposal to Carbon A List. Proposals must be received by 11:59 PM on September 16, 2024. Proposals must be submitted via the Online Proposal Submission form available at https://www.transformf2c.com/processorscorner

Proposal Evaluation, Selection, and Negotiation

Selection of proposals will be based upon the degree to which proposals meet the requirements outlined in this RFP and scoring of the selection criteria outlined above. Proposal evaluations will be based on a weighted percentage. Additional information regarding proposal evaluation and review criteria is available at www.transformf2c.com/proposalevaluation

Eligible proposals will be reviewed and ranked by Carbon A List with input from partner organizations supporting execution of this project. Carbon A List will make selection decisions based on review committee rankings and will send a notice of tentative selection to Offerors as outlined in the Proposal Timeline section of this document. Upon tentative selection, selected Offerors will enter contract negotiations with Carbon A List to begin on the anticipated start date.

Budget

Disbursement of Funds

Awarded Offerors will be paid on a quarterly reimbursement schedule. Funds will only be dispersed if terms and conditions of the contract are met – including requirements for data reporting by Offeror to Carbon A List. Any delay or deviation from reporting schedule could result in delayed or withheld reimbursement fund release.

Contractor Performance Requirements

Carbon A List prohibits discrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs and marital or familial status.

Offerors must be willing to certify their status as an Equal Employment Organization and that the organization complies with the minimum-wage and maximum-hour provisions of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Selected Offerors must agree to acknowledge USDA support in all publications or media funded by this RFP.

Proposals approved for funding will be required to enter into a project agreement with Carbon A List. Offerors will utilize the standard service contract provided by Carbon A List. The Carbon A List standard service contract is available upon request. Interested Offerors can request a copy by emailing proposals@transformf2c.com.

Selected Offerors will be required to submit quarterly and final project reports utilizing forms and guidance provided by Carbon A List and subject to USDA terms and conditions of the Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities funded program.

Questions?

To ensure fairness and transparency during the open Request for Proposals (RFP) process, Carbon A List observes a "quiet period," which begins when the RFP is issued and ends upon the contract award announcement.

To support proposers in their submission process, we have established an FAQ site for this RFP and we encourage you to submit any questions you might have via the FAQ Form. We strive to answer all submissions promptly and thoroughly, and may elect to combine similar questions and responses; however, Carbon A List will not respond to inquiries or engage in one-on-one conversations about specific proposals.

Our goal is to conduct a fair, transparent, and efficient selection process, and we thank you for your understanding and cooperation. We appreciate your interest in collaborating with Carbon A List and your adherence to these guidelines during the RFP process.

Ready to Submit?

Please take a moment to ensure all sections of the RFP have been reviewed:

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