Ecolog Deutschland GmbH (W912PB23D3011)

B-421531 May 09, 2023 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Ecolog Deutschland GmbH (Ecolog), of Dusseldorf, Germany, protests the award of a contract to ACCL International DMCC (ACCL), of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W912PB23D3011, issued by the Department of the Army for full food services at an Army dining facility in Illesheim, Germany. The protester challenges the agency's evaluation of the protester's technical proposal, the agency's price evaluation, and the resulting award decision. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Ecolog Deutschland GmbH File: B-421531 Date: May 9, 2023 Sareesh Rawat, Esq., Marshall & White, PC, for the protester. Major Michael R. Tregle, Jr., Department of the Army, for the agency. Michelle E. Litteken, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging the agency’s evaluation of the protester’s proposal as technically unacceptable is denied where the evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the solicitation’s evaluation criteria. DECISION Ecolog Deutschland GmbH (Ecolog), of Dusseldorf, Germany, protests the award of a contract to ACCL International DMCC (ACCL), of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W912PB23D3011, issued by the Department of the Army for full food services at an Army dining facility in Illesheim, Germany. The protester challenges the agency’s evaluation of the protester’s technical proposal, the agency’s price evaluation, and the resulting award decision. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On December 19, 2022, the Army issued the solicitation pursuant to the procedures in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12, acquisition of commercial services, seeking a contractor to provide food services, food preparation, headcount, and food service sanitation services at the Flight Line Inn Dining Facility located at Storck Barracks, Illesheim, Germany. Req. for Dismissal at 2-3. The solicitation contemplated a fixed-price contract with a 1-year base period and four 1-year option periods. Id.; Protest, exh. 3, RFP at 3. The solicitation established that award would be made on a lowest-price, technically acceptable (LPTA) basis considering the following three factors: technical, subcontracting, and price. RFP at 21. Consistent with an LPTA source selection, the nonprice factors were to be evaluated as acceptable or unacceptable. Id. The technical factor consisted of two subfactors: (1) offeror experience and (2) dining facility manager and alternate dining facility manager experience (referred to here as personnel experience). RFP at 68. As relevant here, for the personnel experience subfactor, the agency would evaluate whether the proposal demonstrated that the proposed dining facility manager and alternate dining facility manager met the following minimum experience requirements: (1) 5 years of experience working in a Department of Defense (DOD) dining facility providing complete meal services within the last 10 years; (2) 3 years of experience as an assistant manager or a manager of a DOD dining facility; and (3) 2 years of experience using automated food management systems within the past 5 years. Id. at 22. With respect to price, the solicitation provided that the agency would evaluate each offeror’s proposed price to determine whether it was fair and reasonable, and whether option prices were unbalanced. Id. at 22‑23. The Army received eight proposals before the deadline for proposal submission. Req. for Dismissal at 4. The agency ranked the proposals based on the offerors’ total evaluated prices. Id. at 4. ACCL offered the lowest price, and Ecolog offered the [REDACTED] lowest price. Id. The Army rated Ecolog’s proposal as unacceptable under the personnel experience subfactor because the protester’s proposal did not demonstrate that its alternate dining facility manager had at least 3 years of experience as a manager or assistant manager of a DOD dining facility. Req. for Dismissal, exh. 1, Source Selection Decision Document (SSDD) at 7. Ecolog’s proposal stated that the candidate had been an assistant manager from 2021 to the present. Id.; Req. for Dismissal, exh. 2, Ecolog Technical Proposal at 47. The agency concluded that Ecolog’s proposal was therefore technically unacceptable and ineligible for award.[1] The Army found that ACCL had submitted the lowest-price, technically acceptable offer, and that its proposed price was fair and reasonable. Req. for Dismissal, exh. 1, SSDD at 11. Accordingly, the agency selected ACCL’s proposal for award. Id. On March 1, 2023, the Army notified Ecolog that its proposal had not been selected for award.