§ 250.50 - Contract requirements and procurement.

§ 250.50 Contract requirements and procurement.

(a) Contract requirements. Prior to donated foods being made available to a food service management company, the recipient agency must enter into a contract with the food service management company. The contract must ensure that all donated foods received for use by the recipient agency in the school or fiscal year, as applicable, are used in the recipient agency's food service, or that commercially purchased foods are used in place of such donated foods only in accordance with the requirements in § 250.51(d). Contracts between recipient agencies in child nutrition programs and food service management companies must also ensure compliance with other requirements in this subpart relating to donated foods, as well as other Federal requirements in 7 CFR parts 210, 220, 225, or 226, as applicable. Contracts between other recipient agencies - i.e., charitable institutions and recipient agencies utilizing TEFAP foods - and food service management companies are not subject to the other requirements in this subpart.

(b) Types of contracts. Recipient agencies may enter into a fixed-price or a cost-reimbursable contract with a food service management company, except that recipient agencies in CACFP are prohibited from entering into cost-reimbursable contracts, in accordance with 7 CFR part 226. Under a fixed-price contract, the recipient agency pays a fixed cost per meal provided or a fixed cost for a certain time period. Under a cost-reimbursable contract, the food service management company charges the recipient agency for food service operating costs, and also charges fixed fees for management or services.

(c) Procurement requirements. The recipient agency must meet Departmental procurement requirements in 7 2 CFR part 200, subpart D, and USDA implementing regulations at 2 CFR parts 400 and 416, as applicable, in obtaining the services of a food service management company, as well as applicable requirements in 7 CFR parts 210, 220, 225, or 226. The recipient agency must ensure that procurement documents, as well as contract provisions, include any donated food activities that a food service management company is to perform, such as those activities listed in paragraph (d) of this section. The procurement and contract must also specify the method used to determine the donated food values to be used in crediting, or the actual values assigned, in accordance with § 250.51. The method used to determine the donated food values may not be established through a post-award negotiation, or by any other method that may directly or indirectly alter the terms and conditions of the procurement or contract.

(d) Activities relating to donated foods. A food service management company may perform specific activities relating to donated foods, such as those listed in this paragraph (d), in accordance with procurement documents and its contract with the recipient agency. Such activities may also include the procurement of processed end products on behalf of the recipient agency. Such procurement must ensure compliance with the requirements in subpart C of this part and with the provisions of the distributing or recipient agency's processing agreements, and must ensure crediting of the recipient agency for the value of donated foods contained in such end products at the processing agreement value. Although the food service management company may procure processed end products on behalf of the recipient agency, it may not itself enter into the processing agreement with the processor required in subpart C of this part. Other donated food activities that the food service management company may perform include:

(1) Preparing and serving meals;

(2) Ordering or selection of donated foods, in coordination with the recipient agency, and in accordance with § 250.58(a);

(3) Storage and inventory management of donated foods, in accordance with § 250.52; and

(4) Payment of processing fees or submittal of refund requests to a processor on behalf of the recipient agency, or remittance of refunds for the value of donated foods in processed end products to the recipient agency, in accordance with the requirements in subpart C of this part.

[73 FR 46185, Aug. 8, 2008, as amended at 81 FR 23111, Apr. 19, 2016]