SPECIAL NOTICE
A -- Food Label and Package Survey
- Notice Date
- 4/16/2010
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541910
— Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Office of Acquisitions and Grants Services, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 2129, Rockville, Maryland, 20857-0001
- ZIP Code
- 20857-0001
- Solicitation Number
- HHS-FDA-RFI-1071419
- Archive Date
- 5/8/2010
- Point of Contact
- Tara R. Hobson, Phone: 3018279691, Doreen Williams, Phone: 301827-3366
- E-Mail Address
-
Tara.Hobson@fda.hhs.gov, doreen.williams@fda.hhs.gov
(Tara.Hobson@fda.hhs.gov, doreen.williams@fda.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Description: Food Label and Package Survey (FLAPS) This is an RFI NOTICE to determine the availability and capability of small businesses (i.e. certified 8(a), Small Disadvantaged, and HUBZone firms; veteran and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and woman-owned small businesses) for FLAPS survey (Food Label and Package Survey). This information is being sought for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). No official solicitation exists; therefore, please do not request a copy of a solicitation. If in the future an official solicitation is released, there is no guarantee that sources responding to this will be included on the source list. No telephone inquiries will be accepted. FDA may consider soliciting services for a two year contract. Background: FDA has conducted the Food Label and Package Survey (FLAPS) for more than 30 years (biennially from 1976 to 1997, in 2000-2001, and again in 2006-2007). The FLAPS provides current information on the state of product package labeling from a nationally representative sample of processed packaged food products. Specifically, the FLAPS database enables FDA to: (1) keep abreast of market responses to food labeling rules via changes in food package labels (e.g., trans fat labeling); (2) provide a sampling frame for studies that compare analytical nutrient values with the label values; (3) examine the types of ingredients that manufacturers are using; (4) review the serving size declarations on packaged foods; (5) determine the nutrient content claims and health claims that are being used on labels and the types of products that qualify for the claims; and (6) determine prevalence of food safety (e.g., refrigeration and pasteurization labeling) and other consumer information on food products. Draft Objectives: The objectives are to (1) purchase a food and dietary supplement marketing database that contains various information outlined below; (2) purchase food products that FDA selects from the market data and obtain food labels; (3) develop a data entry system to enter food label information (specified by FDA) from the food products and create database by keying the label information to the database; (4) scan the food labels; and (5) sending the entire food packages (not the content of the foods) to FDA. Draft Scope of Work: Draft Task A: Task A-1. We anticipate the contractor may provide FDA historical sales scanner data from markets representing total U.S. All retail outlets combined (i.e., food, drug, and mass merchandisers) in electronic, Excel format as detailed below. The data shall be for each of the 52 weeks (i.e., weekly) starting with the week ending September 12, 2009, and for the total for these 52 weeks (i.e., one year total). The data will be available for use by FDA employees and FDA's designated contractors as needed for FDA research projects. The data will be compatible and directly comparable to FDA's existing time series of Nielsen company data in terms of coverage, statistical sampling, and grouping in department and category. The contractor may provide consistently identified brand descriptions, so that the UPCs can easily be sorted by brand. The following departments will be provided: i. (00)DRY GROCERY DEPARTMENT (inclusive of all subcategories) ii. (01)FROZEN FOODS DEPARTMENT (inclusive of all subcategories) iii. (02)DAIRY DEPARTMENT (inclusive of all subcategories) iv. (03) DELI DEPARTMENT (inclusive of all subcategories) v. (05)FRESH PRODUCE DEPARTMENT (inclusive of all subcategories) vi. (07)ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES (inclusive of all subcategories) vii. DIETARY SUPPLEMENT CATEGORY within THE HEALTH AND BEAUTY DEPARTMENT (inclusive of all subcategories) Data will be included at the category, subcategory, product module, brand description, and UPC level. The following characteristics shall be provided for DEPARTMENTS (00), (01), (02), (03), (05), (07), and dietary supplement department where available: FIRST COLUMN (i.e., product name with size where available) UNVERSAL PROD CODE PRODUCT LEVEL (i.e., CATEGORY, SUBCATEGORY, PRODUCT MODULE, BRAND DESCRIPTION, and UPC) DEPARTMENT CATEGORY SUB-CATEGORY PRODUCT MODULE BRAND DESCRIPTION EQUIVALIZED BASE HIGH BRAND (BE HIGH DESCRIPTION) LOW BRAND (BE LOW DESCRIPTION) CONTAINER PACKAGE GENERAL SHAP PACK TYPE PACKAGE TYPE DOLLAR VOLUME UNIT VOLUME EQUIVALENT UNIT VOLUME %ACV SELLING PRODUCT AVERAGE UNIT PRICE PRODUCT STYLE FLAVOR FORM SIZE TYPE MARKET POSITIONING CHARACTERISTICS (e.g., whole grain, fat free, less sugar, reduced calorie) %ACV by promotion condition: No feature or display Any feature or display Feature without display Display without feature Feature and display Task A-2. The contractor may also provide FDA with a list of private label UPC numbers matched to the aggregated, masked UPCs in the scanner data detailed in Task A in Excel format. The contractor may provide all of the available characteristics. Task A-3. The contractor may provide FDA with a list of abbreviations used for Tasks A-1 and A-2 in Excel format. Draft Task B: Provide approximately 3,000 food products that FDA selects based upon the market data that FDA will obtain in Task A. FDA will provide to the Contractor a list of food products (shopping list) with FLAPS ID numbers to purchase in Excel format no later than January 1, 2011. The list of food products will include mostly brand name products with specific UPCs but also include some control/private label products with masked UPCs which represent aggregate private label products. The Contractor may be required to locate products with regional and local, as well as national distribution, and therefore, must have access to a wide range of geographical locations and knowledge of which retail organizations and individual stores carry local or regional items. Also for the control/private label products with masked UPCs, the Contractor may be responsible for identifying the most appropriate private label product for the masked UPCs. For food products that cannot be found at the retail stores, the Contractor may contact the manufacturer to obtain the product packages (that contain food labels). The Contractor may report products that are discontinued or unable to obtain for other reasons to the project officer. The Contractor may empty and clean out the food packages (that contain food labels) and affix a FLAP ID label to each product package, without covering important label information. For quality control, the Contractor may maintain an electronic inventory of the names and numbers of products purchased, as well as those still to be located. Because the Contractor for Task B must have access to the detailed sales data associated with control/private label products. Tasks A and B may be awarded to the same Contractor. Draft Task C: The Contractor may develop a data entry system to enter food label information from the food products, create database by keying the label information to the database, carry out quality control of the database, scan the food labels, and send the food labels to FDA. Specifically the following tasks are required: Task C-1. The Contractor may develop a data entry system to enter food label information that FDA specifies. FDA will provide the Contractor an electronic FLAPS form that lists the detail information to be collected from the food labels. See Appendix A for the draft FLAPS form (this form will be supplied later before RFP is published). The Access data entry system that FDA developed for the 2006-2007 FLAPS will be provided to the Contractor as an example. The Contractor may use other data entry system, but the database that the Contractor provides to FDA must be in the format that is readable by SAS. Task C-2. The manager and some key-in personnel attend a one-day training session at FDA to learn about the FLAPS form. Task C-3. Key-in all information from product labels in the database as instructed by FDA. The key-in personnel and a manger/managers must be proficient in English to ensure accurate data entry. Task C-4. Scan product labels including the FLAPS ID label in PDF format using a flat bed scanner in color at high resolution with a minimum of 1,200 dpi. Small texts in the food labels must be legible in the PDF files. Some product packages are large; therefore, a scanner with large scanning surface is necessary. For the 2006-2007 FLAPS, a scanner with scanning surface of 12.5 inches x 17.5 inches was used to scan the food labels. Task C-5. Link the PDF files to the database if possible. Task C-6. Copy the database and the PDF scans onto CDs Task C-7. Perform quality control of work particularly for completeness and accuracy of label information in the database. 4. Reporting Requirements and Deliverable Items Draft Task A: The Contractor may provide a sample report format for the market data. The Contractor may deliver the data specified in Tasks A-1, A-2, and A-3 in Scope of Work that are compatible with FDA software. The delivery may be due at FDA within two weeks of signing the contracts. Draft Task B: The Contractor may meet with the project officer within one month after the contract is awarded, and provide (in Microsoft Word) a detailed oral and written description of the purchase plans for the foods. The Contractor will discuss with the project officer about how to deal with foods that cannot be obtained at the retail stores or from the manufacturers. FDA will provide to the Contractor a list of food products (shopping list) to purchase in Excel format no later than January 1, 2011. The Contractor may collect the selected food products and empty and clean out the packages. The Contractor may affix the FDA ID label to each food package, without covering important label information. This task must be completed by June 30, 2011. The Contractor must provide FDA a monthly report of an electronic inventory of the names and numbers of products purchased, as well as those still to be located and a narrative review of work accomplished and/or significant events regarding the contract. Draft Task C: The Contractor may meet with the project officer within one month after the contract is awarded, and provide (in Microsoft Word) a detailed oral and written description of database development plan and the coding and scanning plans, and quality control plans. The Contractor may provide a monthly report or deliverable for informal technical work directives. The report will contain a narrative review of work accomplished and/or significant events regarding the contract; other information regarding milestone or deliverable progress, such as potential/experienced problem areas, resolution of problems, anticipated progress, deliverables or milestones due during the next reporting period; percent of work completed toward interim or final deliverable; and estimates of time to complete the deliverable. In addition, the Contractor must provide monthly a CD containing the food label database (i.e., cumulative data) and the PDF files of scanned food labels (i.e., cumulative files). The Contractor may submit the data entry system created for this project in electronic file, complete food label database in electronic file, and all of the food packages (not the content of the food package) to the FDA project officer by April 1, 2012. We may anticipate a firm fixed price type contract for two years. Viable parties shall provide the following: Part A. Capabilities and Technical Experience - Provide a capability statement describing how your company would provide FLAPS Survey as provided in the Draft Scope of Work. Part B. Size of Business- Please provide your business size and submit copies of any documentation such as letters or certificates to indicate the firm's status. Part C. Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) - If any, provide disclosure of business activities of your company, your affiliates, your team members and affiliates of your team members which create either a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest in the FLAPS survey. Part D. Cost Estimate-Provide a cost estimate for the services (i.e. hourly rates, hours/days) and the number of hours for the FLAPS survey. Part E. Small Business - Describe your ability to meet the requirements in accordance with 52.219.14 - Limitation on Subcontracting. Responses shall be:  RFI Sought number ;  no more than ten (10) pages in length;  not submit marketing materials;  submitted to the email as indicated above. FDA makes no implied or in fact contract by issuing this RFI. Acknowledgement of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of the FDA's view of the information received. Do not send any material that requires a non-disclosure agreement or that may be business sensitive. Responses received that include a non-disclosure agreement or identify information that is business sensitive will not be accepted. Responses to this notice will not be returned.
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