At the May 11, 2016 City Commission meeting, Mayor Levine sponsored an item regarding the creation of a City employee healthy cafeteria.  The matter was discussed at the June 17, 2016 Finance and Citywide Project Committee (FCWPC) and staff was directed to bring the item back to the FCWPC after meeting with a potential tenant which staff had identified.

Staff presented the negotiated terms to the City Commission at their December 14, 2016 meeting.   The City Commission reviewed the negotiated terms and directed staff to issue a competitive solicitation to attain additional proposals from parties interested in maintaining, managing and operating a food and beverage concession located at the ground floor retail space of the City-owned building located 773 17^th Street (adjacent to City Hall), with the intent of providing healthy menu options for City employees.

RFQ PROCESS

On January 25, 2017, the Mayor and City Commission were updated via Letter to Commission (LTC) # 051-2017, that Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) 2017-097-WG for City Employee Healthy Café was issued on January 25, 2017. Staff sent bid notice of the ITN to 112 local restaurants and catering vendors, and also advertised the solicitation on a local newspaper.  On March 2, 2017,  the City received two (2) proposals from Sandel Beach, LLC d/b/a Very Berry Healthy Café, and Taste Bakery Café, LLC.

The Evaluation Committee appointed by the City Manager pursuant to LTC# 124-2017 convened on March 31, 2017, to consider the responsive proposals received. The committee was comprised of Maria Cerna, Division Director, Capital Improvement Projects, City of Miami Beach, Jose Del Risco, Assistant Director, Parks and Recreation Department, City of Miami Beach, and Vanessa Williams, Assistant Director, Office of Tourism, Culture and Economic Development, City of Miami Beach.

The Committee was provided an overview of the project, information relative to the City’s Cone of Silence Ordinance and the Government Sunshine Law. The Committee was also provided with general information on the scope of services and a copy of each proposal.  The Committee was instructed to score and rank each proposal pursuant to the evaluation criteria established in the ITN. The evaluation process resulted in the ranking of proposers, as detailed in Attachment A, as follows:

1. Taste Bakery Café, as top-ranked proposer,
2. Sandel Beach, LLC d/b/a Very Berry Healthy Café, as second-ranked proposer.

Taste Bakery Café, LLC

The Thakore Family has owned and operated Taste Bakery for over half a decade.  The Thakore Family has been in the restaurant business for over 12 years, including a full service 160 seater Mexican restaurant in Toronto, Canada. 

They currently cater lunches to a number of clients including City departments.  They serve hundreds of patrons daily and complete dozens of deliveries to all of Miami Beach and the greater Miami Area including Downtown and Brickell.

Taste Bakery Café, LLC, offered a menu with a broad selection of healthy food items. They offered online ordering, delivery and a system for tracking of discounts applied.

Sandel Beach, LLC d/b/a Very Berry Healthy Café

Sandel Beach, LLC proposed a concept that will be named Very Berry Healthy Café. There is currently no location operated as Very Berry Healthy Café. However, Sandel Beach, LLC operates the Manolo Café in the North Beach area. Their first family-owned restaurant was founded in 1930 in Burgos, Spain.  The Family has established the Manolo trademark throughout the Americas, including Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, Argentina and today in Miami. 

The Very Berry Healthy Café concept would include a menu with a variety of healthy dishes, such as a salads, vegetarian burgers, chicken breast offered with many sides (rice, spinach, salad, etc), fish, spinach pie and variety of natural smoothies as well fresh squeezed orange juice. Sandel Beach, LLC also offered online ordering and delivery.

After reviewing the qualifications of each firm, and having considered the Evaluation Committee’s comments and rankings, I have determined that both Proposers complied with the City’s intent to provide employees with healthy food options at reasonable prices and the offer convenience of proximity to City Hall or available delivery. However, the Evaluation Committee, having selected Taste Bakery, LLC as the top-ranked Proposer, did identify a major important distinction between the two proposals. The Evaluation Committee has noted that Taste Bakery, LLC is currently operating a local facility offering a similar menu to what it proposed in the solicitation. In that regard, Taste Bakery, LLC is offering a proven menu concept that has already been tested by the marketplace, and appears to be popular with customers. On the other hand, Sandel Beach, LLC d/b/a Very Berry Healthy Café, while it offered a menu with many healthy options, is offering a menu that is completely different than its current menu offering at its local Manolo’s establishment and is not currently in operation anywhere locally. In that regard, the menu proposed by Sandel Beach, LLC has not been tested by the marketplace and its ability to attract and retain customers is unproven.

Additionally, in addition to the new location at the City Hall campus contemplated under the ITN, Taste Bakery Cafe will provide the same discounts to City employees at its existing location on Alton Road, increasing options for City employees.

Given past history with unproven and unsuccessful operations at this location, and the fact that the solicitation requested a “proven track record,” as well as Administration’s desire to provide multiple locations for healthy eating to City employees, I recommend that the Administration be authorized to negotiate with Taste Bakery, LLC to determine final agreement terms, including employee discounts and any subsidies by the City. If negotiations with fail with Taste Bakery, LLC, the Administration could consider Sandel Beach, LLC as an alternative option.

Therefore, I recommend that the Mayor and the City Commission authorize the Administration to enter into negotiations with Taste Bakery Café, LLC, as the top-ranked proposer; further, should the Administration not be successful in negotiating an agreement with Taste Bakery Café, LLC, authorizing the Administration to enter into negotiations with the second ranked proposer, Sandel Beach, LLC, and further, directing that the Final Agreement, upon conclusion of successful negotiations, be submitted for approval to the Mayor and City Commission.