Simplify school food procurement
Bid Generator was built for the unique needs of school nutrition departments, making it easier than ever for food buyers to connect with vendors, procure products locally, and stay in compliance.
Get Started.svg)
Developed with input from food service directors, our easy-to-use tools make complex procurement straightforward. Prepare and download a draft RFP in minutes!
Every school district is different. Our template saves time and energy while allowing you to customize as needed—improving compliance, food quality, service, and costs.
Increasing local procurement should benefit everyone. With dynamic bidding and seasonal pricing, you can set priorities and preferences while saving on costs.
Our organization has worked with California school districts to create more than 100 RFPs for local fresh produce, dairy, and proteins.
Our Farm to Market team has supported 170 school districts with procurement since 2013.
Since 2017, we’ve worked with 320 family farms to support their sales and keep vital farm land in production.
“Bid Generator has allowed Natomas USD to scale and grow our farm to school program over the years. It has proven to be instrumental in diversifying our purchases despite the pandemic and supply chain shortages. We were better equipped to handle changes because of it.”
“Bid Generator was quick, efficient, and insightful for a first time director experiencing a bid process. CAFF helped identify all legal requirements when soliciting bids and the template was customizable to meet our needs as a department. I would say it saved 90% of my time and helped my stress level. I enjoyed having personal support from CAFF staff, too.”
"I can't thank your team enough for drafting this bid and all the help you have given us, we definitely could not have done it without you. We look forward to being more comfortable with procurement for our many programs and expanding our local purchases of fresh and seasonal fruits and vegetables."
School food service departments have limited time and resources but the work they do has a huge impact on students’ lives. We’re here to support school districts with tools that help them procure food of the highest quality, delivered with the best service, from local farms whenever possible. We’ve spent the better part of the last decade partnering with experts to learn, question, test, revise, and improve our procurement resources to give districts of every size and geography a leg up, while connecting them to local vendors.
Bid solicitations should help school food buyers purchase the best food possible, not add more work to their role. I’ve spent the last few years poring over bids with food service directors and vendors around California to understand their needs and create solutions for their challenges. Now, I’m excited to bring you a set of tools that automates most of the process while we help fill in the gaps to make your procurement successful.
Creating partnerships between school food buyers and family farmers is a vital piece in strengthening healthy food systems. My goal is to make your job easier by supporting your local purchasing initiatives through Bid Generator. I’m looking forward to cultivating a partnership with you, so that we can make values-based procurement a reality for you and your school district.
