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Published 11 Aug 2026, 15:07 BST

Official UK procurement notice

2025-791 Purchase data for red meat and dairy

Official notice

Authority: AHDB

5 lotsServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Published estimate£5,416,666total for 5 lots · £6,500,000 inc. VAT
Submissions closed 14 Sept 2026
Lots 5see the lot list below
Contract term 3 yrs 2 moends 23 Apr 2030 · up to 23 Apr 2033 with extensions · starts 24 Feb 2027

What is being bought5 lots · detail below

Published requirement description

AHDB require purchase data for red meat and dairy and their competitors to understand demand for our sector products and know about trends and switching within meat and dairy.

This will be one tender with 5 lots covering the following:

Lot 1 – Meat purchase data

Lot 2 – Dairy purchase data

Lot 3 – Segmentation

Lot 4 – Marketing mix models

Lot 5 – Adhoc panel insight

Closing date is NOON 14th September 2026

Use this link to access documents and registering information.

defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗

Each Lot will be evaluated and awarded independently. The Authority reserves the right to award:

  • a single Lot to one supplier;
  • multiple Lots to the same supplier; and/or
  • different Lots to different suppliers.

There is no restriction on the number of Lots that may be awarded to any one supplier, provided that the supplier submits the most advantageous tender for the relevant Lot(s) and demonstrates the capacity and capability to deliver the requirements.

Estimated contract start date is 26th April 2027, initial contract is for 3 years with 1+1+1 options to extend if required.

  • How the procedure runs: Initial standard tender process followed by second stage of revisions to draft standard contract terms.

CPV: Market research services

Lots and requirements (5)Procurement structure

5 lots · all with a published value (£5,416,666 together) · same conditions of participation on every lot · evaluation weights differ by lot
Lot #1Meat purchase dataRenewal 3 yrs 2 moSMEPublished value£2,010,000

AHDB needs a selection of core and optional meat data requirements.

  • Core equates to reads for Total Grocery, Meat, Fish & Poultry (MFP), Red Meat key categories (e.g. primary & processed) and key cut breakdown, other protein topline.
  • Optional extra 1 equates to reads for other protein categories and cut breakdown.
  • Optional extra 2 equates to reads for red meat cuts in more granular detail.
  • Optional extra 3 equates to red meat SKU detail.

AHDB expects the following to be delivered as standard.

 The basic measures required will consist of the following as a minimum:

  • Value
  • Volume
  • Price
  • Buyer numbers i.e. penetration
  • Volume per buyer i.e. frequency and volume per trip

 Data must be split by retailers including the following as a minimum:

  • Tesco
  • Sainsbury’s
  • Asda
  • Morrisons
  • Aldi
  • Lidl
  • Co-op
  • Waitrose
  • Iceland
  • M&S
  • Ocado
  • Independents & Symbols
  • Bargain Stores
  • Butchers

AHDB requires the supplier to calibrate data and ensure accuracy of databases for each data release. Prior warning should be given for any restatement of data, together with clear explanation of reasoning for restatement. Suppliers to outline expected frequency of restatements. Any quality issues identified at the time of data release should be dealt with promptly by the supplier with a resolution put in place within 1 week (5 working days) of data release.

Data should be representative of the market for all key demographics (age, gender, life stage, social class, region, religion). Note that a read on the Muslim population is key for AHDB’s understanding of the total lamb market. Suppliers should detail any areas that are under-represented within the data (and potential impact on insights generated) together with outlining any areas where weighting is applied to account for under representation of a specific demographic.

AHDB requires access to 52, 24, 12 and 4 week endings as a minimum, in addition the ability to run and export historic trends (5 years minimum) to monitor product retail performance.

AHDB require a proposal to best meet AHDB’s specification with a maximum budget for all core and optional extras of £402,000 per annum including VAT

Please see specification for the full requirements.

Contract period: 24 Feb 2027 – 23 Apr 2030 (3 yrs 2 mo) · up to 23 Apr 2033 with extensionsValue: £2,010,000 exc. VAT · £2,412,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: 1+1+1
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)2
  • Economic & financial standing

    As per tender documents

  • Technical & professional ability

    As per tender documents

Lot #2Dairy purchase dataRenewal 3 yrs 2 moSMEPublished value£833,300

AHDB need a selection of core and optional dairy data requirements.

  • Core equates to reads for Total Grocery, Total Dairy, Dairy key categories (e.g. milk, cheese, butter) and splits by products source (e.g. cow, plant-based).
  • Optional extra 1 equates to reads on sub category breakdown for milk, cheese, BSM, pack size and country of origin.
  • Optional extra 2 equates to reads on further dairy categories such as ice cream, coffee drinks and protein powder.
  • Optional extra 3 equates to dairy SKU detail.

AHDB expects the following to be delivered as standard.

 The basic measures required will consist of the following as a minimum:

  • Value
  • Volume
  • Price
  • Buyer numbers I.e. penetration
  • Volume per buyer I.e. frequency and volume per trip

 Data must be split by retailers including the following as a minimum:

  • Tesco
  • Sainsbury’s
  • Asda
  • Morrisons
  • Aldi
  • Lidl
  • Co-op
  • Waitrose
  • Iceland
  • M&S
  • Ocado
  • Independents & Symbols
  • Bargain Stores
  • Milkman

AHDB require access to 52, 24, 12 and 4 week endings as a minimum, in addition the ability to run and export historic trends (5 years minimum) to monitor product retail performance.

AHDB requires the supplier to calibrate data and ensure accuracy of databases for each data release. Prior warning should be given for any restatement of data, together with clear explanation of reasoning for restatement. Suppliers to outline expected frequency of restatements. Any quality issues identified at the time of data release should be dealt with promptly by the supplier with a resolution put in place within 1 week of data release.

Data should be representative of the market for all key demographics (age, gender, life stage, social class, region, religion).

Estimated £200k per annum including VAT

For further details of requirements, please see the Specification.

Contract period: 24 Feb 2027 – 23 Apr 2030 (3 yrs 2 mo) · up to 23 Apr 2033 with extensionsValue: £833,300 exc. VAT · £1,000,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: 1+1+1
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)2
  • Economic & financial standing

    As per tender documents

  • Technical & professional ability

    As per tender documents

Lot #3SegmentationRenewal 3 yrs 2 moSMEPublished value£283,330

AHDB uses consumer segmentation to underpin AHDB strategy and inform marketing activities. The segmentation is based on actual purchasing behaviour and attitudes with a focus on red meat and dairy categories. The segmentation allows AHDB to have a common ‘language’ for all sectors and a way of targeting consumers more efficiently, beyond just simple demographics.

The current segmentation was developed in 2025 and is key to helping target shoppers within current AHDB marketing campaigns. Regular updates on the purchasing behaviour of the segments are carried out to monitor any changes across segments.

AHDB would like to maintain the regular updates of the purchasing behaviour for the current segments from April 2027 to April 2029.

AHDB would also like the option to either refresh the current segmentation or create a new segmentation within the next 5 years depending on market conditions.

The segmentation is based on an extensive range of questions covering grocery shopping habits, attitudes to food, health and nutrition, cooking, sustainability, animal welfare, meat/dairy and household dietary requirements. Agencies must outline a suitable methodology to reproduce this segmentation if required. AHDB can provide the questions and coding that is used the current segmentation.

Maintenance to provide regular updates on purchase behaviour for total market and split for current segments. This will also require profiling and allocation to segments for any new panellists.

The basic measures required will consist of the following as a minimum:

  • Value
  • Volume
  • Price
  • Buyer numbers i.e. penetration
  • Volume per buyer i.e. frequency and volume per trip

Data must be split by retailers including the following as a minimum:

  • Tesco
  • Sainsbury’s
  • Asda
  • Morrisons
  • Aldi
  • Lidl
  • Co-op
  • Waitrose
  • Iceland
  • M&S
  • Ocado
  • Independents & Symbols

AHDB require a proposal to best meet AHDB’s specification with a budget of approximately:

  • £38,000 per annum including VAT for maintaining the current segmentation,

AHDB doesn’t have a fixed budget for other areas or future years, please refer to the Specification for further information.

Contract period: 24 Feb 2027 – 23 Apr 2030 (3 yrs 2 mo) · up to 23 Apr 2033 with extensionsValue: £283,330 exc. VAT · £340,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: 1+1+1
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)2
  • Economic & financial standing

    As per tender documents

  • Technical & professional ability

    As per tender documents

Lot #4Marketing mix modelsRenewal 3 yrs 2 moSMEPublished value£500,000

AHDB’s marketing team have done a few consumer media measure studies over previous years. They use this information to communicate the success of campaigns to our levy payers and show the return to retail sales our campaigns have for our sector products. We also use this information to inform future campaign activity and look to optimise based on recommendations from the results of the analysis.

AHDB currently has two marketing campaigns – Let’s Eat Balanced which covers lamb, beef and dairy and Love Pork which covers Pork.

AHDB would require potential analysis for campaign results from top level categories like total beef and lamb, total pigmeat or total dairy down to specific cuts or products such as pork medallions or cow’s milk.

KPIs required:

Return to retail sales for every £1 spent on campaign advertising

  • Spend uplift due to the campaign
  • Volume uplift due to the campaign
  • Number of lapsed shoppers re-engaged
  • If lapsed shoppers were retained
  • Campaign reach (% households)
  • Response curves for likelihood to purchase

Data will be used by staff of AHDB insight teams and marketing teams. The data must be available for regular Levy Board publication purposes including web publications.

AHDB expects the following client service activities to be included within the data cost:

  • Training and technical support/help for all users for software programmes.
  • Any data checking or sign off required by the supplier

Suppliers should outline details and experience of any 3rd party agencies that will be used to deliver the research project, clearly indicating the stage in which they would be involved.

Further optional services to be made available include:

  • Ad hoc data requests beyond the scope of the online tool

AHDB require a proposal to best meet AHDB’s specification with a maximum budget for all core and optional extras of £100,000 per mix model including VAT

For further details, please refer to the Specification.

Contract period: 24 Feb 2027 – 23 Apr 2030 (3 yrs 2 mo) · up to 23 Apr 2033 with extensionsValue: £500,000 exc. VAT · £600,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: 1+1+1
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)2
  • Economic & financial standing

    As per tender documents

  • Technical & professional ability

    As per tender documents

Lot #5Adhoc panel insightRenewal 3 yrs 2 moSMEPublished value£1,790,036

AHDB occasionally does ad hoc projects which require panel data. This lot will allow us to be flexible and react to changing markets or differing levy payer needs.

HDB are looking for options for an agency to do bespoke ad hoc analysis using panel data. These will include but are not limited to:

  1. Nutritional data (especially Nutrient profile modelling (NPM))

AHDB is keen to look at nutrition data and see how we can support the meat and dairy industry to be healthier – especially if mandatory reporting of basket NPM comes in. This could be looking at specific categories or by looking through a retailer lens. Details should be given on methodology for NPM calculation including possibility for reporting on NPM 2004 and NPM 2018.

Alongside the NPM, AHDB may wish to see other nutritional table data such as fibre content, protein content, calories etc.

a. Nutrition data for 5 categories such as primary red meat, primary poultry, meat-free, cows milk etc.

b. Nutrition data for 10 subcategories and cuts such as beef steaks, lamb ready meals, pork sausages, cheddar cheese, Greek yogurt etc.

c. Nutrition data for 5 basket types such as basket containing primary red meat, basket containing primary fish etc.

d. Nutrition scores for baskets by all major retailers such as Tesco, Sainsburys, Aldi etc. please detail which retailers are robust.

  1. Basket analysis

AHDB may wish to understand what other categories are in the basket when red meat or dairy are also present. Details should be given to the level of other categories in the basket which can be analysed.

a. Data on the percentage likelihood of other categories from total grocery, shoppers are buying if they purchase other products in the basket

b. Data on the volume and spend of total grocery categories within a basket

There is no fixed or agreed budget for these projects and will vary through the length of the contract.

For further details, please refer to the Specification

There is no budget available as unknown. The figure included for this lot was to push through the system and is NOT the value expected

Contract period: 24 Feb 2027 – 23 Apr 2030 (3 yrs 2 mo) · up to 23 Apr 2033 with extensionsValue: £1,790,036 exc. VAT · £2,148,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: 1+1+1
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)2
  • Economic & financial standing

    As per tender documents

  • Technical & professional ability

    As per tender documents

What it takes to win
i

How this buyer will score bids.

The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add more
How bids were scored

Lots publish different evaluation splits; there is no single procedure weighting.

LotQualityPriceSocial valueSplit
1 · Meat purchase data55%35%10%
2 · Dairy purchase data55%35%10%
3 · Segmentation55%35%10%
4 · Marketing mix models55%35%10%
5 · Adhoc panel insight55%35%10%
Lot distribution rule: This procurement is divided into five separate Lots. Participants may submit tenders for one Lot, multiple Lots, or all Lots.
Conditions of participation · identical on every lot2
  • Economic & financial standing

    As per tender documents

  • Technical & professional ability

    As per tender documents

What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 35 points on every lot: a 10% discount moves about 3.5 points.

Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Competitive flexible procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Closed
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Yes (GPA)
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
11 Aug 2026, 15:07 BST
Last source update
11 Aug 2026, 15:07 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 5 Nov 2026
Authority reference
2025-791
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-076326
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Market research services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e194 Find a Tender
Contract terms summary

30 days from receipt of invoice

How it runs

Initial standard tender process followed by second stage of revisions to draft standard contract terms.

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: Defra Group eSourcing
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free
Submission deadline
14 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
Clarification deadline
7 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

Timeline

11 Aug 2026 → 24 Feb 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Tender notice published77 days ago
    11 Aug 2026, 15:07 BST
  2. Clarification questions by50 days ago
    7 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
  3. Submission deadline43 days ago
    14 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
  4. Today
    28 Oct 2026
  5. Award decision expected byin 8 days
    5 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
  6. Contract startsin 118 days
    24 Feb 2027

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Tender notice published
    11 Aug 2026, 15:07 BST
    UK4

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE DEVELOPMENT BOARD

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PBHX-8363-MBBV Middlemarch Business Park, Coventry, West Midlands, CV3 4SUContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender