---
title: "PRE-MARKET ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE (PME) for Ambient and Chilled Grocery Products for Education Authority NI"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078560"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078560"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078560.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078560.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "Education Authority NI"
published: "2026-10-12"
---

# PRE-MARKET ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE (PME) for Ambient and Chilled Grocery Products for Education Authority NI

Buyer: Education Authority NI  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078560

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078560)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078560.json)

## Summary

The Education Authority Northern Ireland (EANI) is considering a contract to supply ambient and chilled grocery products and fresh muffins for the Authority and other Northern Irish educational bodies. The product range spans general foodstuffs, biscuits and cakes, sugar products, pasta, coffee and tea, condiments and seasonings. This is a goods supply requirement intended to establish a robust, value-for-money arrangement for educational catering. Suppliers should assess whether they can provide a broad grocery range and serve the Authority and participating educational bodies across Northern Ireland. The planned procurement is currently at the scoping stage: EANI is consulting the market to inform its internal planning and any later procurement.

This is pre-market engagement, not a formal tender or an invitation to bid. EANI is seeking supplier views through a questionnaire; it expects to use the responses for business planning, not to score suppliers in a future tender. Participation, or choosing not to participate, is stated not to affect eligibility or give a supplier an advantage or disadvantage in any later competition. The buyer’s expected date for a subsequent notice is 4 January 2027. The planned single-lot contract is valued at £67.5 million. Its expected term runs from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2031, with a possible extension to 30 June 2033. The questionnaire’s stated return time is 3pm on 30 October 2026.

The requirement is marked as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises, so smaller grocery wholesalers and food suppliers may be relevant, as well as larger distributors able to cover the full range. Suppliers with sourcing, storage and distribution capability for ambient and chilled products, alongside fresh muffins, are likely to be well placed to respond to the market consultation and prepare for any later competition. The Authority says it is seeking a robust, value-for-money contract; suppliers can use the questionnaire to explain how their product range, service model and supply capacity could meet that aim. Responses are for market scoping only and will not be assessed as tender submissions. No particular accreditation or technical qualification is stated in the procurement information. The planned arrangement covers educational bodies in Northern Ireland, so suppliers should consider their ability to serve that customer base.

## Notice

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.

### Planning Information

Pre-Market Engagement Questionnaire (PME) for the provision of Ambient and Chilled Grocery Products for the Education Authority and NI Educational Bodies.
Interested Suppliers are asked to complete and return the questionnaire available via the eTendersNI messaging portal no later than 3pm on 30 October 2026.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095958-2026 |
| Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 12 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 4 Jan 2027 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 Jul 2027 - 30 Jun 2031 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £67,500,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Planning |
| Lots status | Planning |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Education Authority NI |
| Locality | BELFAST |
| Postcode area | Northern Ireland |
| Postcode | BT1 2NQ |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| ITL 1 | TLN Northern Ireland |
| ITL 2 | TLN0 Northern Ireland |
| ITL 3 | TLN06 Belfast |
| Local authority | Belfast |
| Electoral ward | Duncairn |
| Westminster constituency | Belfast North |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 15 - Food, beverages, tobacco and related products

### Codes

- 15000000 - Food, beverages, tobacco and related products
- 15800000 - Miscellaneous food products
- 15820000 - Rusks and biscuits; preserved pastry goods and cakes
- 15830000 - Sugar and related products
- 15850000 - Pasta products
- 15860000 - Coffee, tea and related products
- 15870000 - Condiments and seasonings

## Release History

- 12 Oct 2026 at 10:52 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095958-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095958-2026
  12th October 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078560. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078560.json.