Official UK procurement notice
AFBI Commercialisation of AFBI-bred Forage Grass Varieties
Authority: Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (Central government)·On behalf of: CPD
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) (Client) has a requirement for the provision of Commercialisation of AFBI-bred Forage Grass Varieties (Contract). AFBI is Northern Ireland’s largest science and technology organisation and an internationally renowned multidisciplinary scientific organisation, based at seven locations across Northern Ireland. In line with their Vision of providing “Scientific excellence delivering impactful and sustainable outcomes for society, economy and the natural environment”, AFBI works with a range of partners to provide scientific solutions to the global challenges of climate change, food security and environmental protection. Their staff undertake scientific research, surveillance, and analytical and diagnostic testing for a wide range of customers in the fields of sustainable agricultural systems, animal health and welfare, plant science, food innovation and safety, environmental protection, fisheries and aquatic ecosystems and agricultural and rural economics.
AFBI is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) established under the Agriculture (Northern Ireland) Order, 2004. The Institute undertakes an assigned work programme on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) that comprises statutory, analytical, and diagnostic/surveillance testing, together with research & development (R&D) and the provision of specialist advice in the fields of agriculture, animal health and welfare, plant science, food safety and innovation, marine and fisheries, the natural environment and Agri-food and rural economics.
The AFBI grass breeding programme, based in Loughgall, Northern Ireland, produces locally-adapted ryegrass varieties for a range of forage grass markets, but primarily for the UK/ROI markets. The programme, which has been in place since 1952, has a long history, and a strong reputation in the marketplace. The programme has been extremely successful. As of 2025/26, there were 22 different AFBI-bred ryegrass varieties on the Irish and UK recommended lists. There were also a number of varieties on recommended lists in other European countries. The average annual number of AFBI varieties that have been accepted onto Recommended Lists over the past 10 years is approximately 2.5, demonstrating the consistent performance of new AFBI varieties.
The AFBI forage grass breeding programme is split into two programmes: the strategic programme and the commercialisation programme. The early stage strategic programme is funded by DAERA, and produces germplasm for incorporation into new synthetics. The commercialisation programme tests near-market stage synthetics prior to national list testing and subsequent commercialisation. AFBI requires a commercialisation partner in order for AFBI-bred varieties to be tested for market performance prior to national/recommended list testing, and ultimately for seed from AFBI-bred varieties to reach target markets. AFBI therefore intends to run a tender exercise for commercialisation rights to all future AFBI-bred varieties for the purposes of testing, production and marketing of these varieties.
- How the procedure runs: - Submission of Initial Tenders including Condition of Participation response - Assessment of Initial Tender Responses (with the option to award prior to negotiation) Dialogue Sessions (if required) • one round of up to two meetings with each tenderer with each meeting not exceeding 2 hrs each - Final Tender Response submission and assessment (if required) - Identification of preferred Tenderer - Issue contract award notice and standstill letters - Contract Commencement
CPV: Agricultural services · Financial market operational services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£100,000,000
- Economic & financial standing
Included as part of the Conditions of Participation as per Tender documentation.
- Technical & professional ability
Included as part of the Conditions of Participation as per Tender documentation.
What it takes to wini
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 morei
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).
- AC1 Bring AFBI-bred forage grass seed to the market in Northern Ireland: 17.5 percent
- AC2 Access to additional testing sites,disease testing: 12.5 percent
- AC3 Social Value - Alignment with AFBI’s strategic direction: 10 percent
- AC4 Support for national list and recommended list applications: 5 percent
- AC5 Germplasm Provision: 5 percent
- AC6 Fixed Payment Funding: 35 percent
- AC7 Royalty Payments: 15 percent
- Economic & financial standing
Included as part of the Conditions of Participation as per Tender documentation.
- Technical & professional ability
Included as part of the Conditions of Participation as per Tender documentation.
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
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Concession
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 16 Apr 2025, 15:30 BST
- Last source update
- 14 Aug 2026, 11:59 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 26 Jun 2026
- Authority reference
ID 6164967- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-023654- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area in notice
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-050436Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
For further details on invoicing procedures please see:
www.finance-ni.gov.uk/articles/account-ni-… ↗
www.afbini.gov.uk/contact/finance-proc… ↗
The commercial nature of this requirement is such that it will operate with, and will incur, no direct costs to AFBI. The estimated value stated in the Scope section is a nominal figure, which does not take into account the Contractor's marketing, production costs, and payments that will be made to AFBI. The figure stated must not be assumed as accurate or an indicator as to potential revenue for the Contractor. This value reflects the potential scale of the contract and takes into account the potential optional extension period and the uptake of potential optional services as detailed in the tender documents.
Neither CPD nor the Contracting Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender.
Suppliers remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third party acting under instructions from the Supplier in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the Contracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise (and a Supplier shall have no legitimate expectation that a contract will be entered into) until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the Contracting Authority.
- How it runs
- Submission of Initial Tenders including Condition of Participation response
- Assessment of Initial Tender Responses (with the option to award prior to negotiation)
Dialogue Sessions (if required)
- one round of up to two meetings with each tenderer with each meeting not exceeding 2 hrs each
- Final Tender Response submission and assessment (if required)
- Identification of preferred Tenderer
- Issue contract award notice and standstill letters
- Contract Commencement
- Risks
The Contracting Authority has identified the following as a risk that satisfies the criteria of Schedule 8 sub-paragraph (6)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023 i.e. that the risk/s could jeopardise the satisfactory performance of the contract but, because of its/their nature, cannot be addressed in the contract as awarded:
- This will be a Concessions Contract, where the consideration will be the Contractor's right to financially exploit the subject matter of the contract. The Contractor will be exposed to an operational financial risk, involving the possibility of not recouping investments, and with no guarantees of breaking even or making profits; AND
2.Has concluded that there is a possibility that the contract may have to be modified as a result of a materialisation of the known risk/ at a later date in accordance with Schedule 8 paragraph 5 of the Procurement Act 2023.
Exclusions
If at any time during the procurement, or post award, it comes to the attention of the Contracting Authority (CA) or CPD, by whatever means, that a Supplier has become ‘excluded’ or ‘excludable’ as per Sec 57 of the PA 2023, the CA, after compliance with its obligations under the PA 23, reserves the right to exclude said Supplier from the procurement procedure or terminate any contract they have been awarded.
The Contracting Authority expressly reserves the rights:
(I). not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice;
(II). to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering Competition;
(III). to award (a) contract(s) in respect of any part(s) of the [services] covered by this notice; and
(IV). to award contract(s) in stages.
and in no circumstances will the Authority be liable for any costs incurred by candidates.
This project will be used to progress the Government’s wider social, economic and environmental objectives.
The Contracting Authority reserves the right to hold additional rounds of negotiation / dialogue with tenderers; to require the submission of any further or additional information or tender submissions; to award the Contract following the submission of initial tenders and/or to down-select tenderers at specified points in the process. For the avoidance of doubt, final tenders will not be subject to any negotiation with the Contracting Authority (however, they may be subject to clarification, if required, at the Contracting Authority’s absolute discretion). The Contracting Authority reserves the right: to reject any or all tender responses and to cancel or withdraw the procurement process at any stage; to award a contract without prior notice; to change the basis of, the procedure and the timescales set out or referred to in the procurement documents; to require a tenderer to clarify its tender response in writing and/or provide additional information; to terminate the procurement process; and/or to amend the terms and conditions of the tender evaluation process or negotiation process in line with section 31 of the Procurement Act 2023.
Suppliers should note that all dates, time periods and figures in relation to values and volumes specified in this notice and the procurement documents are approximate only and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to change any or all of them.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 13 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 3 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Tenders must be submitted electronically via the relevant Call for Tender (CfT) opportunity on eTendersNI, website details immediately below.
Paper submissions will not be accepted or considered and will be rejected by the Contracting Authority / Buyer.
The tender documents are available with unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: URL etendersni.gov.uk/epps ↗
Timeline
16 Apr 2025 → 7 Nov 2026 · 10 dates- Planning notice published16 Apr 2025, 15:30 BST
- Market engagement16 May 2025, 23:59 BST
If you wish to participate in the Contracting Authority’s Preliminary Market Engagement for this requirement, a questionnaire for completion is available via eTendersNI under ID 5870806
The questionnaire must be completed and submitted via eTendersNI by the engagement deadline date detailed above, by no later than 1500 hours.
Details can be found within the questionnaire document.
- Tender notice published219 days ago16 Mar 2026, 15:33 GMT
- Clarification questions by200 days ago3 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline190 days ago13 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Award decision expected by116 days ago26 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent79 days ago3 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends68 days ago13 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Latest notice published68 days ago14 Aug 2026, 11:59 BST
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 17 days7 Nov 2026
Notice history
10 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 16 Apr 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published16 Apr 2025, 15:30 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published16 Mar 2026, 15:33 GMTUK4
- Published value updated to £100,000,00016 Mar 2026, 15:33 GMTwas £2,800,000
- Status changed to active16 Mar 2026, 15:33 GMT
- Procurement method changed16 Mar 2026, 15:33 GMT
- Deadline published: 13 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST16 Mar 2026, 15:33 GMT
- Contract award notice published3 Aug 2026, 14:44 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete3 Aug 2026, 14:44 BST
- Contract details notice published14 Aug 2026, 11:59 BSTUK7
- Contract signature expected14 Aug 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-04: 1 release · 16 Apr 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLF A/S7 Nov 2026 – 6 Nov 2036 · up to 6 Nov 2041Extensions: Following the initial contract period, there is one (1) potential extension period of up to five (5) years. The optional extension period will be subject to review and satisfactory performance assessment by the Contracting Authority. | £100,000,000 | 30 Jul 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
AFBI Commercialisation of AFBI-bred Forage Grass Varieties · DLF A/S
- Signed
- 14 Aug 2026
- Value
- £100,000,000
- Period
- 7 Nov 2026 – 6 Nov 2036 · up to 6 Nov 2041 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- Following the initial contract period, there is one (1) potential extension period of up to five (5) years. The optional extension period will be subject to review and satisfactory performance assessment by the Contracting Authority.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1final-stage tenders | 0 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonDLF A/S
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- CPDBeneficiary authority
- CPD - Supplies & Services DivisionProcess contact pointProcuring entityConstruction and Procurement Delivery - Supplies and Services Division, is a Centre of Procurement Expertise and provides a central procurement function for central government in Northern Ireland.
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- DLF A/SAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender