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PRE-MARKET ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE (PME) for Ambient and Chilled Grocery Products for Education Authority NI
Education Authority · Education
In brief
Education Authority has announced plans to buy food and drink work. This is an early notice: there is nothing to bid on yet, but it tells you a tender may follow.
The estimated value is £67,500,000 excluding VAT.
The contract runs for 4 years, up to 6 years with extensions, starting 1 July 2027.
The buyer says it is suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Built from the notice's own fields. Always check the official notice before you bid.
Can I win this?
Competition
Typical: a median of 4 bids per contract for this buyer (from 63 awards in the last 12 months).
What the notice says
The Education Authority Northern Ireland (EANI) wishes to engage with the market to seek their views on establishing a robust, value for money contract for the provision of Ambient and Chilled Grocery Products and Fresh Muffins. Any information gathered through this market consultation exercise will inform internal business planning and any possible subsequent procurement process and will NOT be appraised in any future tender evaluation exercise. Please note that participation or non-participation in this preliminary market consultation exercise shall not prevent any supplier from participating in any potential procurement process, nor is it intended that any information supplied shall place any supplier at an advantage or disadvantage in any forthcoming procurement process. For the avoidance of doubt, this is the scoping phase of the project and is not part of a formal procurement process. Suppliers who wish to participate in the market engagement exercise should complete the pre-market engagement questionnaire. Further information including the questionnaire can be downloaded from CfT documents. The Questionnaire must be completed no later than 3pm on the closing date detailed in the PME Questionnaire document. There are no formal tender documents to be completed other than the questionnaire.
How to bid
- Read the full notice on Find a Tender, including any tender documents it links to.
- Register your organisation on the Central Digital Platform (through Find a Tender) if you have not already. Suppliers need to be registered to take part in procurements under the Procurement Act 2023.
- Follow the submission instructions in the notice; it does not name an e-tendering portal.
Timeline
- Preliminary market engagement notice · UK2, notice 095958-2026
About the buyer
Education AuthorityLast 12 months
Procurements
134Awards
44Suppliers it has used most for food and drink
- Culligan Water (Ireland) Limited1 contract
- Dale Farm Limited1 contract
- Drayne's Dairy Limited1 contract
- Early Days Foods Ltd1 contract
- Grove Dairy Ltd1 contract
Similar open tenders
All open food and drink tenders- £2.3mestimated
From notice 095958-2026 on Find a Tender, first published 12 October 2026. We last checked for changes on 12 October 2026.