Lancashire County Council is seeking market feedback in relation to the future procurement of a framework agreement for the distribution of food and drink products to over 550 sites, predominantly schools and residential care settings. The contracted distributor will be responsible for receiving, warehousing, consolidating food supplies, receiving and managing orders, invoicing, and delivering food and drink products from multiple suppliers to Lancashire County Council sites, together with customer service, supply chain management and business continuity arrangements. Due to the increased delivery frequency and purchase volumes acting as a distribution anchor, the distributor will also be required to separately source, supply and deliver fresh fruit, vegetables and salad products as part of the framework.

Procurement Act 2023

Lancashire County Council is conducting preliminary market engagement relating to The Provision of a Food Distribution Network Prior to publication of a full invitation to tender (anticipated November 2026), interested organisations are invited to engage with this preliminary market engagement exercise. Interested organisations should: - Visit: https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/business/tenders-and-procurement/tenders/ - Navigate to the market engagement project by clicking on the link for The Provision of a Food Distribution Network - Review the Preliminary Market Engagement document(s) contained on this project page. This document provides more information regarding this preliminary market engagement exercise. - Submit your expression of interest (EOI) via email to [email protected] by no later than 26th October 2026 at 12 noon. Please note: If you are having issues accessing the hyperlink within the above weblink. Please email [email protected] for the relevant documentation.