KSC, Inc- dba Cups and Company (AOCSSB23R0060)

B-422597 Jul 30, 2024 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights KSC, Inc., doing business as Cups and Company, of Vienna, Virginia, protests the award of a contract to Restaurant Associates, LLC, of New York, New York, under request for proposals (RFP) No. AOCSSB23R0060, issued by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) to provide food services at the Everett Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.1 The protester contends that the competition was unfair, and that the AOC has unjustifiably refused to provide a debriefing. We dismiss the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. No party requested redactions; we are therefore releasing the decision in its entirety. Decision Matter of: KSC, Inc., d/b/a Cups and Company File: B-422597 Date: July 30, 2024 John Shin, Esq., and Yue He, Esq., Shin Legal, PLLC, for the protester. Robert Carson, Esq., Lloyd Subin, Esq., and John Ward, Esq., Architect of the Capitol, for the agency. Cosette Vincent, Paul N. Wengert, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that agency improperly failed to provide a required debriefing is dismissed because GAO will not consider protests based on the content of, or failure to provide, a debriefing because the alleged violation does not affect the award of the challenged contract. 2. Protest that agency took actions that unfairly favored the awardee is dismissed where the protester is not an interested party because the record demonstrates that a third offeror's proposal was in line for award ahead of the protester's, and the protester does not challenge the evaluation of either that firm's or the protester's own proposal. DECISION KSC, Inc., doing business as Cups and Company, of Vienna, Virginia, protests the award of a contract to Restaurant Associates, LLC, of New York, New York, under request for proposals (RFP) No. AOCSSB23R0060, issued by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) to provide food services at the Everett Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.[1] The protester contends that the competition was unfair, and that the AOC has unjustifiably refused to provide a debriefing. We dismiss the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP, issued on September 29, 2023, sought proposals to operate a retail food service outlet within the Dirksen Senate Office Building in a space referred to as the American Grill for an 8-year period beginning in 2025.[2] The RFP requested electronic proposals in two parts: a technical proposal, and a separate qualifications/standard form 33/financial offer part. AR, Tab 2, RFP section L at 12. The contract was to be awarded to the firm whose proposal was most advantageous to the government under four factors: technical approach, corporate capabilities, past performance, and financial schedules. AR, Tab 3, RFP section M at 23. The RFP provided that the evaluation under the technical approach and corporate capabilities factors would result in the assessment of adjectival ratings of outstanding, good, acceptable, marginal, or unacceptable. AR, Tab 3, RFP section M at 4-5. As relevant to the protest, a marginal rating would be applied to a proposal that does not meet all requirements and includes strengths, weaknesses, significant weaknesses and/or deficiencies where the strengths are outweighed by the weaknesses and/or deficiencies. The risk of unsuccessful performance is high as the [p]roposal does not demonstrate an understanding of requirements and can be expected to result in unsatisfactory performance. Id. at 5. Additionally, the RFP stated that “[o]fferors who rate below Acceptable under Factors 1 [technical approach] or 2 [corporate capabilities] will not be eligible for award . . .” and would not be evaluated further. Id. The RFP also provided the following instructions about submission of proposals: Proposals are due Friday, November 17, 2023, at 12:00 noon ET. Proposals must be emailed to the Contracting Officer at [name]@aoc.gov. . . . All submissions in response to this RFP shall be valid for 180 days. AR, Tab 2, RFP section L at 10. As provided in the RFP, AOC held a pre-proposal conference and site visit on October 19, for which KSC registered but did not attend. COS/MOL at 4. Four offerors, including KSC and Restaurant Associates, submitted proposals by the November 17 deadline for receipt of proposals.