Delivery and Storage

Overview

As School Food Authorities (SFAs) plan on what products to order for USDA Foods for the next school year, delivery options and storage capacities should be considered.

Delivery

Delivery of DoD Fresh Produce Products

All DoD Fresh Produce will be delivered per information in the FFAVORS Ordering system by a USDA-contracted vendor.

Delivery of Direct Diversion and Cheese Rebate End Products

SFAs must contract with a commercial distributor or directly with a processor for delivery of all Direct Diversion and Cheese Rebate processed end products.

Delivery Options for Direct Delivery (Brown-Box) and State Processing Products

In November, SFAs should start planning how they will receive delivery of USDA Foods for the next school year. All delivery decisions should be finalized by the time the USDA Foods Annual Order Survey for the next school year opens (in February).

State-Contracted Delivery Option: Delivery is by a trucking company under sub-contract with the DPI-contracted warehouse facilities. Direct Delivery and State Processing Products are delivered once per month to one drop-off address per SFA. Deliveries occur September through May. The warehouse or trucking company emails the SFA contacts the delivery appointment date and approximate time. SFAs cannot delay delivery. Driver is responsible for pulling cases up to tailgate. The SFA must plan to have personnel available to receive truck and off-load cases from the truck. When Direct Delivery and State Processing products are delivered, the food becomes the responsibility of the SFA.
SFA-Contracted Commercial Distributor Delivery Option: SFAs contract with a commercial distributor for delivery of USDA Foods. SFAs receive USDA Foods at the negotiated delivery frequency and addresses. The SFA-contracted distributor, at a minimum of monthly, must pick-up the SFA’s USDA Direct Delivery and State Processing products from the State-contracted warehouse and store the USDA Foods at the distributor’s warehouse. The SFA is responsible for negotiating the delivery schedule with the commercial distributor. The SFA will work with the distributor to determine when and what amount of each product is delivered. SFAs must contract with a commercial distributor for delivery of Direct Diversion or Cheese Rebate end products. When Direct Delivery and State Processing products are picked up by the commercial distributor at the state-contracted warehouse, the food becomes the responsibility of the SFA.