How much chocolate does the Department of Defense (DOD)
buy, one of our staff said on Valentine’s Day. The Defense Department buys chocolate you say?
Yes DOD buys everything from weapon systems
to food and candy, you just need to know where and how to look.
If you are looking to sell to DOD or wondering how, your answers
exist in the data.
Reviewing past contract awards and solicitations tell you
details of the purchase. The answers you’ll
find through this type of review will help guide you on how to sell your products. Finding answers such as who’s buying that
type of item, how they are buying it, what kind of contract(s) are used how many
are purchased and what price they are paying.
These answers will guide you on the best way to sell. If you are simply just searching for open solicitations,
you could be missing out on other business opportunities.
DOD buys all kinds of food including fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, bakery products and candy including chocolate. Various types of contracts are used; both large and small companies sell food to DOD. Contracts for food are awarded to local vendors as well as large prime vendors.
Contracts can be long term or one time buys. The successful government contractor uses all these methods.
The first part of my market research was to determine the code(s) relating to chocolate products. There isn’t one but there is class of items under FSC 8925 which is titled “Sugar, Confectionery, and Nuts” – candy, chewing gum, honey and maple syrup all fall under that category. Since chocolate is a candy now I know to search using FSC 8925 to find contracts and solicitations that might contain chocolate.
Then I looked for contracts, companies selling products
under FSC 8925, bounced around in BidLink looking up contracts, companies, NSNs’
Cage Codes finding some very specific results of companies selling chocolate.
My goal for this study to just get an idea of what kind
of chocolate was sold and who sold it in past 45 days starting January 1st
2019 till today.
A few data points I found relating to Chocolate the
Defense Logistic Agency (DLA) is buying:
Both Sweet and Semisweet chocolate baking chips, various types
Chocolate covered peanuts, assorted colors – Any guesses on the manufacturer?
- Candy Bars:
- Chocolate covered nougat, with caramel & peanuts
- And $50,958.00 worth of Butterfinger candy bars
- January 2019 Contract # SPE300-18-DQ003
- Quantity 288 cases
- Price $176.94 per case
Most contracts awarded to medium/large companies but one was
small with less than 40 employees.
Although I do not have the total picture of what’s being sold or what they might have purchased for Valentine’s Day, I did prove that DOD buys chocolate. This conclusion can possibly lead you or your company to successful sales of you own to DOD.
BidLink is a provider of DOD procurement research tools and has been a leading provider of industry marketing data relating to DOD procurement and solicitations for the past 20 years. Find defense contracts and research competition. Learn more at www.bidlink.net
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