Supply & Distribution of Various Foods
Estimated value
£4.5m
Awarded value
—
Suppliers
0
Lots
4
Published
01 May 2026
Description
Cumberland Council have a requirement for the supply and distribution of a range of various foods within the footprint of Cumberland Council, these foods will be suitable for Cumberland Care Sites, Cumberland Council Sites and Cumberland Council maintained non-chequebook schools which do not use third party School Meals providers. Cumberland Care sites currently consist of 8 Care Homes and 9 Day Centres. There are currently 75 maintained schools within they footprint of Cumberland Council. Only those schools which do not use a third-party school meals provider will be eligible to access the Framework, this currently applies to 31 schools but is subject to change. The number of schools who will access the Framework is not guaranteed as not all schools will choose to opt in. Schools that are eligible to use the framework will sign an access agreement allowing them to receive framework pricing and benefits however they will be wholly responsible for all framework transactions and will contract directly with the successful supplier(s). This contract will be tendered in 4 lots with each lot being awarded to one supplier. • Lot 1 - Fresh Meat & Fish • Lot 2 - Fresh Fruit & Vegetables • Lot 3 - Frozen Foods • Lot 4 - Groceries & Provisions, including Fresh Milk, Fresh Bread & Morning Goods, Fresh Sandwich Fillings, Salads, Cooked Meats and Soft Drinks. Suppliers will be able to tender for one, more than one, or all Lots. The lots will be evaluated individually, and each lot will be awarded to one supplier who will supply and distribute the full range of goods within the lot to all eligible sites within the footprint of Cumberland Council.
Scope
- Reference
- DN812591
- Total value
- £4,500,000 excluding VATAbove the relevant threshold
- Commercial tool
- Standalone contract
- Contract dates
- 31 Jul 2026 to 31 Jul 2030
- Main category
- goods
- CPV classifications
- 15000000
- Contract locations
- North West England, United Kingdom
- Particular suitability
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
Award criteria
Criteria the buyer will use to evaluate bids.
| Name | Description | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | — | price | 40.00% |
| Quality | — | quality | 40.00% |
| Social Value | — | quality | 20.00% |
Submission & procedure
- Enquiry deadline
- 15 May 2026, 4:00 pm
- Submission deadline
- 26 May 2026, 11:00 am
- Submission address
- The documents are available via The Chest - https://www.the-chest.org.uk/ For support using the chest please contact Proactis, using the supplier support area. For clarifications, please ensure all correspondence is via The Chest using the message area. Suppliers wishing to express an interest and obtain access to the tender documents should go to www.the-chest.org.uk and click on current opportunities from the navigation area on the left of the screen. On the next screen enter the contract Reference (DN812591) in the box labelled 'contains' then click search. Click on the Blue link for the contract title to view the opportunity. To express an interest you will need to login. If you are not already registered on the www.the-chest.org.uk you will need to return to the home page and click on Register. Register FREE link in the navigation area on the left of the screen. Registration is free of charge and your username and password will be emailed to you. Cumberland Council is fully supportive of all aspects of diversity including ethnicity,race, religion, age, disability and sexual orientation. In this respect Cumberland Council welcomes expressions of interest from ethnic minority, disabled and other diverse business communities and the voluntary sector. Economic operators are therefore required to fully comply with all statutory obligations/applicable legislation and there will be a requirement to participate in the Authority's supplier audits on all aspects of diversity. The Contracting Authority expressly reserves the right: (i) not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice; and (ii) to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering competition; and in no circumstances will the Contracting Authority be liable for any costs incurred by the candidates. Any expenditure, work or effort undertaken prior to contract award is accordingly a matter solely for the commercial judgement of potential suppliers. The contracting authority reserve the right to use any electronic portal during the life of the agreement. The value provided in this notice is only an estimate. The contract term is 4 years with no option to extend
- Electronic submission
- Yes
- Procedure
- Open procedure
Lots · 4 total
Divisions of the contract. Each lot can be awarded separately.
| Lot | Title | Est. value | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fresh Meat & Fish | £162k | active |
| 2 | Fresh Fruit & Vegetables | £65k | active |
| 3 | Frozen Foods | £305k | active |
| 4 | Groceries & Provisions | £537k | active |