San Diego Beverage & Kup, Inc., B-278881, March 24, 1998

B-278881 Mar 24, 1998 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Were unreasonable. The successful contractor under the RFP will be required to provide the juice. Tea products ordered by the agency to either of two ports in California for shipping to South Korea. /1/ The contractor will also be required to furnish. Offerors were required to prepare their business proposals primarily by completing the price schedule set forth in the RFP. The proposals were evaluated. Written discussions were conducted. Best and final offers (BAFOs) were received and evaluated. San Diego Beverage's BAFO was rated as "good" under the experience and past performance and management plan evaluation factors. "good" overall. /2/ Dispenser Juice's BAFO was rated as "excellent" under the experience and past performance. View Decision Matter of: San Diego Beverage & Kup, Inc. File: B-278881 Date: March 24, 1998 * Redacted Decision DIGEST Attorneys DECISION San Diego Beverage and Kup, Inc. protests the award of a contract to Dispenser Juice, Inc., under request for proposals (RFP) No. SPO300-97-R-M039, issued by the Defense Personnel Support Center (DPSC), Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), for juice, coffee, and tea products, as well as dispensing equipment, for Department of the Army troops at various sites in South Korea. San Diego Beverage contends that the agency's evaluation of its and Dispenser Juice's proposals, and selection of Dispenser Juice's higher-priced proposal for award, were unreasonable. We deny the protest. The RFP, issued July 11, 1997, on an unrestricted basis, provided for the award of a fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract for a base period of 1 year with one 1-year option. The successful contractor under the RFP will be required to provide the juice, coffee, and tea products ordered by the agency to either of two ports in California for shipping to South Korea. /1/ The contractor will also be required to furnish, install, maintain, repair and/or replace the juice, coffee, and tea dispensing equipment in the facilities in South Korea. The RFP stated that award would be made to the offeror submitting the proposal representing the best value to the government, price and other factors considered, and listed the following technical evaluation factors and subfactors in descending order of importance: (1) Experience and Past Performance (2) Management Plan a. Quality i. Shelf Life ii. Production Capacity iii. Product Identity b. Distribution to the Port of Embarkation c. Customer Service i. Installation and Maintenance of Equipment (3) Socioeconomic Considerations (4) DLA Mentoring Business Agreement The solicitation noted that the socioeconomic considerations and DLA mentoring business agreement evaluation factors would not be rated, but that the offerors' responses would be compared to each other and ranked, with the response indicating the most comprehensive plan for tutoring small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, or women-owned small businesses receiving the highest ranking. The RFP included a "Notice of Evaluation Preference for Small Disadvantaged Business Concerns," which provided that offers would be evaluated by adding a factor of 10 percent to the evaluated price of all offers, except those received from small, disadvantaged business (SDB) concerns. The RFP provided detailed instructions for the preparation of proposals, and requested that offerors submit a technical proposal, organized to respond to the technical evaluation factors listed, and a business proposal. Offerors were required to prepare their business proposals primarily by completing the price schedule set forth in the RFP. The agency received three proposals, including those of San Diego Beverage (an SDB concern) and Dispenser Juice (a small business), by the RFP's closing date. The proposals were evaluated, written discussions were conducted, and best and final offers (BAFOs) were received and evaluated. San Diego Beverage's BAFO was rated as "good" under the experience and past performance and management plan evaluation factors, and "good" overall. /2/ Dispenser Juice's BAFO was rated as "excellent" under the experience and past performance, and management plan evaluation factors, and "excellent" overall. The source selection authority (SSA), while recognizing that Dispenser Juice's total proposed price for the base period and option year of $7,220,345 was 1.2 percent higher than San Diego Beverage's total proposed price, and 11.2 percent higher with the application of the SDB evaluation preference, directed that the contract be awarded to Dispenser Juice as the offeror submitting the proposal representing the best value to the government. San Diego Beverage first challenges the agency's evaluation of its and Dispenser Juice's proposals as "good" and "excellent," respectively, under the experience and past performance evaluation factor.