Official UK procurement notice
RM6409 Buying Better Food and Drink 2
Authority: Crown Commercial Service (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis will be a replacement agreement to follow RM6279 Buying Better Food and Drink framework, which expires on 22/01/2028.
Of the £4.9bn, total Public Sector food spend, the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) has a market share <0.3%.
The procurement is planned as a single supplier framework (as per the current RM6279 agreement), where the opportunity for SMEs is a key benefit of the operational model, as buyers and the Tier 1 supplier can add SMEs to the supply chain for direct delivery supplies to customers at any time, via the Buyer Unique Line terms. The framework is designed to reduce barriers for SMEs to access public sector contracts to supply food and drink.
The framework will be suitable for all Public Sector buyers including central government organisations, devolved administrations and wider public sector organisations in the United Kingdom.
CPV: Agricultural and horticultural products · Animal or vegetable oils and fats · Animal products, meat and meat products · Beverages, tobacco and related products · Canteen and catering services · Cereals, potatoes, vegetables, fruits and nuts · Dairy products · Farming, hunting and fishing products · Food, beverages, tobacco and related products · Forestry and logging products · Fruit, vegetables and related products · Grain mill products, starches and starch products · +3 more
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Crown Commercial Service buys Agricultural and horticultural products (CPV 0310), and who usually turns up
Crown Commercial Service’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Agricultural and horticultural products (CPV 0310) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 29 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid39%
2–336%
4–621%
7+3%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate33%
Within ±2%50%
Above estimate17%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 0310Published estimate£800m
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 66 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid39%
2–336%
4–621%
7+3%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Direct award proposed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 15 May 2026, 16:11 BST
- Last source update
- 28 Oct 2026, 09:09 GMT
- Authority reference
RM6409- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-101839- Latest notice
- Pipeline notice (UK1)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069a4cFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
15 May 2026 → 30 Apr 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published168 days ago15 May 2026, 16:11 BST
- Latest notice published2 days ago28 Oct 2026, 09:09 GMT
- Today31 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 65 days4 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 180 days30 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 15 May 2026- Pipeline notice published15 May 2026, 16:11 BSTUK1
- Pipeline notice published28 Oct 2026, 09:09 GMTUK1
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender