Tender

A survey of E. coli, Campylobacter, Salmonella and AMR on frozen imported chicken meat on retail sale in the UK

  • Food Standards Agency

UK4: Tender notice - Procurement Act 2023 - view information about notice types

Notice identifier: 2025/S 000-025144

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-051eb8

Published 22 May 2025, 3:39pm



Scope

Description

To address this evidence gap, we are inviting tenders to carry out a survey of E. coli, Campylobacter, Salmonella and AMR on frozen chicken meat on retail sale in the UK. The survey should include UK-produced and imported frozen chicken. We anticipate that the survey will be in two Lots: Lot 1. Survey design, sample collection at retail and transportation to the testing laboratory Lot 2. Microbiological testing, data analysis and reporting.

Total value (estimated)

  • £180,000 excluding VAT
  • £216,000 including VAT

Above the relevant threshold

Main procurement category

Services

CPV classifications

  • 73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

Lot constraints

Maximum number of lots a supplier can bid for: 1

Maximum number of lots a supplier can be awarded: 1

Description of how multiple lots may be awarded:

Can be awarded all lots. Full details on lots in the specification.

Not the same for all lots

Contract dates are shown in Lot sections, because they are not the same for all lots.


Lot 1. Lot 1. Survey design, sample collection at retail and transportation to the test

Description

Applicants should submit bids indicating a provisional design for a survey on E. coli, Campylobacter and Salmonella and AMR found on raw frozen chicken meat on retail sale in the UK. Sample collection For this survey, the frozen chicken items will need to be evenly sampled over a 12-month period commencing from October 2025 and concluding at the end of September 2026. Given the lack of AMR data on UK retail frozen chicken, we suggest sampling 300 (+5% contingency) frozen chicken samples at retail supermarkets as this will enable us to create a new baseline for AMR E. coli whilst also providing updated prevalence figures for Campylobacter and Salmonella Full details are in the specification document.

Lot value (estimated)

  • £50,000 excluding VAT
  • £60,000 including VAT

Contract dates (estimated)

  • 1 September 2025 to 31 October 2026
  • Possible extension to 31 January 2027
  • 1 year, 5 months

Description of possible extension:

Optional 3 month extension

Same for all lots

CPV classifications are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.


Lot 2. Lot 2: Microbiological testing, data analysis and reporting

Description

Applicants should submit bids indicating a microbiological testing for a survey on E. coli, Campylobacter and Salmonella and AMR found on raw frozen chicken meat on retail sale in the UK. Applicants must ensure good quality control throughout the sample arrival/logging and analysis and long-term storage of bacterial isolates. Full details are in the specification document.

Lot value (estimated)

  • £130,000 excluding VAT
  • £156,000 including VAT

Contract dates (estimated)

  • 1 September 2025 to 31 March 2027
  • Possible extension to 30 September 2027
  • 2 years, 1 month

Description of possible extension:

Optional 6 month extension

Same for all lots

CPV classifications are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.


Participation

Particular suitability

Lot 1. Lot 1. Survey design, sample collection at retail and transportation to the test

Lot 2. Lot 2: Microbiological testing, data analysis and reporting

  • Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
  • Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)

Submission

Enquiry deadline

12 June 2025, 12:00pm

Tender submission deadline

25 June 2025, 12:00pm

Submission address and any special instructions

Tenders for FSA funded projects must be submitted through the health-family single e-commercial system (Atamis), using the following link: http://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome. Failure to do so may result in the tender response not being processed by the system or the response being automatically disqualified during the evaluation stage of the tender process.

Tenders may be submitted electronically

Yes

Languages that may be used for submission

English

Award decision date (estimated)

29 August 2025


Award criteria

This table displays the award criteria of the lot
Name Description Type
Technical

70%

Quality
Social Value

10%

Quality
Commercial

20%

Cost

Weighting description

See specification for full award criteria


Other information

Applicable trade agreements

  • Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

Conflicts assessment prepared/revised

Yes


Procedure

Procedure type

Open procedure

Justification for not publishing a preliminary market engagement notice

No prior market engagement was conducted due to an already defined scope and value of the procurement.


Contracting authority

Food Standards Agency

  • Public Procurement Organisation Number: PJRM-6866-LYYX

YO1 7PR

York

YO1 7PR

United Kingdom

Region: UKE21 - York

Organisation type: Public authority - central government