Scope
Reference
CAT-25-006
Description
The Education Authority invites tenders for the Supply and Delivery of Fresh Poultry Products. The initial period will be for 20 months from the Start Date (anticipated to be August 2025) with options to extend for any additional period(s) of up to and including 36 months.
This Contract is established by the Education Authority and is open to the EA, including NI educational bodies as follows, who at some point, during the life of the Contract may wish to utilise the agreement and should have access at any point, with the permission of EA. This Contract is not intended to replace any current agreements that participating or non-participating institutions may already have in place.
Department of Education - Schools Plus https://www.educationni.gov.uk/services/schools-plus
Primary and Post Primary schools under the control of the EA, Catholic Maintained Schools, Independent Schools in NI, Irish Medium Schools in NI, both Controlled and Voluntary Grammar Schools, Nursery School for NI (both controlled, and Catholic Maintained), school meals kitchens on-site at all of these schools, and Controlled Youth Centres.
FE Colleges : https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/contacts/further-education-fe-colleges
Further Education Colleges in NI
NICIE - https://nicie.org/
Grant Controlled Integrated Education Schools in NI
Independent Schools in NI https://www.isc.co.uk/schools/northern-ireland/
EA Teachers' and Educational Centres
Council for the Curriculum, Examination and Assessment NI (CCEA)
Armagh Observatory and Planetarium
Middletown Centre for Autism
Controlled Schools Support Council (CSSC)
Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE)
Pre-Schools and Nurseries included within the EA's Pre-School Education Programme (PSEP)
Preliminary market engagement notice was Published 11 March 2025, 2:55pm
Engagement deadline: 25 March 2025
Notice identifier: 2025/S 000-008770
Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-04eba1
Total value (estimated)
- £17,500,000 excluding VAT
- £17,500,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 18 August 2025 to 31 March 2027
- Possible extension to 31 March 2030
- 4 years, 7 months, 14 days
Description of possible extension:
Option to extend for any additional period(s) of up to and including 36 months
Main procurement category
Goods
CPV classifications
- 15100000 - Animal products, meat and meat products
- 15112000 - Poultry
- 15000000 - Food, beverages, tobacco and related products
- 15130000 - Meat products
- 15110000 - Meat
Contract locations
- UKN - Northern Ireland
Justification for not using lots
Geographical lots and lots to divide raw poultry and cooked poultry were considered however, it was agreed by the panel that this was not feasible as all schools need to receive the same products with equal quality/price across the board and the risk of receiving no bids for geographical areas with less locations to service was unacceptable. It was further identified through PME by suppliers that it would not be commercially viable to supply EA unless all locations were to be serviced by one supplier, as the logistical arrangements required will be at a cost to suppliers which can only be covered by the large scale business.
Participation
Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation
None
Technical ability conditions of participation
CoP 1 - Technical ability to perform the contract - Previous Experience
Particular suitability
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
Submission
Enquiry deadline
16 June 2025, 3:00pm
Tender submission deadline
23 June 2025, 3:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
13 August 2025
Recurring procurement
Publication date of next tender notice (estimated): 1 October 2029
Award criteria
| Name | Description | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Contract Price | Full details can be found in the CfT documents section on eTenderNI https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps |
Cost | 75% |
| Proposed Methodology | Full details can be found in the CfT documents section on eTenderNI https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps |
Quality | 15% |
| Supply Chain and Contingency Management | Full details can be found in the CfT documents section on eTenderNI https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps |
Quality | 10% |
Other information
Payment terms
Full details can be found in the CfT documents section on eTenderNI https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Description of risks to contract performance
The Buyer cannot guarantee any particular level of business (volumes/values) within the Contract.
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Open procedure
Contracting authority
the Education Authority
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PPHJ-6982-JPXY
40 Academy Street
BELFAST
BT12NQ
United Kingdom
Contact name: catering.procure@eani.org.uk
Email: catering.procure@eani.org.uk
Region: UKN06 - Belfast
Organisation type: Public authority - central government
Devolved regulations that apply: Northern Ireland