Project Information

Bid Title

Request for Proposals for Edible Food Recovery Services to Commercial Edible Food Generators - Round 2

Issuing Agency

Zero Waste Sonoma

Location

California

Published Date

Dec 18, 2025

Closing Date

Jan 5, 2026

Government Level

State & Local

Status

Closed

Original Source

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Bid Documents

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Project Description

Request for Proposals for Edible Food Recovery Services to Commercial Edible Food Generators - Round 2

December 18, 2025

Zero Waste Sonoma (ZWS) is seeking proposals for services to provide edible food recovery services to Commercial Edible Food Generators, as required by the regulations the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) adopted in response to Senate Bill (SB) 1383 (Chapter 395, Statutes of 2016) (the regulations are hereinafter referred to as “SB 1383 Regulations”). All work will be completed in collaboration with ZWS staff and in compliance with SB 1383 Regulations (Chapter 12 of Division 7 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR). The below scope of work has been prepared to assist you in providing a written submission.

According to CalRecycle, Californians send 2.5 billion meals worth of still-fresh, unsold food to landfills each year, even as 1 in 5 Californians face food insecurity. The goal of SB 1383 is to reduce food waste and address food insecurity by diverting surplus edible food from the garbage and compost bins to food banks, soup kitchens, and other food recovery organizations and services that help feed our neighbors. By diverting food waste away from the landfill, California can lower methane climate pollution emissions and save landfill space.

SB 1383 requires that by 2025, California will recover 20% of edible food that would otherwise be sent to landfills, to feed people in need. The law requires the following:

• Jurisdictions must establish food recovery programs and strengthen their existing food recovery
networks
• Food donors must arrange to recover the maximum amount of their excess, edible food
• Food recovery organizations and services that participate in SB 1383 must maintain record

• Edible Food Recovery RFP - Round 2 (0kb)

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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR EDIBLE FOOD RECOVERY

SERVICES FROM COMMERCIAL EDIBLE FOOD GENERATORS

PROPOSALS DUE: 5:00 P.M. on Monday, January 5, 2026

Submit proposal to:

Kristen Sales, Program Coordinator

Zero Waste Sonoma

Kristen.Sales@Sonoma-County.org

2300 County Center Dr, Suite B240

Santa Rosa, CA 95403

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Background

Zero Waste Sonoma (ZWS) is seeking proposals for services to provide edible food recovery services to

Commercial Edible Food Generators, as required by the regulations the California Department of

Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) adopted in response to Senate Bill (SB) 1383 (Chapter

395, Statutes of 2016) (the regulations are hereinafter referred to as “SB 1383 Regulations”). All work

will be completed in collaboration with ZWS staff and in compliance with SB 1383 Regulations (Chapter

12 of Division 7 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR). The below scope of work has been

prepared to assist you in providing a written submission.

According to CalRecycle, Californians send 2.5 billion meals worth of still-fresh, unsold food to landfills

each year, even as 1 in 5 Californians face food insecurity. The goal of SB 1383 is to reduce food waste

and address food insecurity by diverting surplus edible food from the garbage and compost bins to food

banks, soup kitchens, and other food recovery organizations and services that help feed our neighbors.

By diverting food waste away from the landfill, California can lower methane climate pollution

emissions and save landfill space.

SB 1383 requires that by 2025, California will recover 20% of edible food that would otherwise be sent

to landfills, to feed people in need. The law requires the following:

• Jurisdictions must establish food recovery programs and strengthen their existing food recovery

networks

• Food donors must arrange to recover the maximum amount of their excess, edible food

• Food recovery organizations and services that participate in SB 1383 must maintain records

What is Edible Food?

Edible food means food intended for people to eat, including food not sold because of appearance, age,

freshness, grade, size or surplus. Edible food includes, but is not limited to prepared foods, packaged

foods, and produce.

CEFGS, FRO and FRS

“Commercial Edible Food Generator” or “CEFG” are specified businesses that create edible food.

Examples include supermarkets, grocery stores, restaurants and hotels. (See 2 CCR § 18982(a)(7) for

the full definition.) There are two tiers of CEFGs – Tier 1 and Tier 2 – as described below. (See 2 CCR §

18982(a)(74)-(75) for definitions.)

“Food Recovery Organization”, or “FRO” means an entity that engages in the collection or receipt of

edible food from Commercial Edible Food Generators. They then distribute the food to people in need

directly or through other food distribution entities, such as food banks or other nonprofit charitable

organizations and temporary food facilities. (See 2 CCR § 18982(a)(25) for the full definition.)

“Food Recovery Service” or “FRS” means a person or entity that collects and transports edible food from

a Commercial Edible Food Generator to a Food Recovery Organization or other food distribution entity

for feeding people. (See 2 CCR § 18982(a)(26) for the full definition.)

Per the SB 1383 Regulations, Commercial Edible Food Generators are required to donate their excess

edible food. To ensure that the maximum amount of edible food is recovered, SB 1383 Regulations

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require that Commercial Edible Food Generators establish contracts or written agreement with a FRO or

FRS.

Budget

To help implement the edible food recovery requirements of SB 1383 Regulations, Zero Waste Sonoma is

allocating $80,000 in State grant funding for this program. ZWS will award four (4) applicants with

$20,000 in grant funds each. Awarded applicants will enter into a professional services agreement

(Attachment A) with ZWS for $20,000 to execute the proposed edible food recovery services. Each

service agreement will consist of a 6-month term.

Submission

Applicant response must include the following sections:

1. Cover Letter - contact information and brief description of the organization and type of service

offered; cover letter should be signed by authorized representative of applicant organization.

2. Project Team & Qualifications - Provide a short profile of the team members to be assigned to

proposed grant project, including each team member’s skills and experience in food recovery

and their project role

3. Scope of Work - Provide a brief description of applicant's proposed food recovery services (i.e.,

how applicant would spend grant funds). Please limit to 800 words or less.

4. Cost Proposal - Provide itemized breakdown of grant costs, including personnel hours, if

applicable (i.e., 100 personnel hours @ $45/hr or $5,000 to purchase a blast chiller)

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Evaluation Process

ZWS shall evaluate each submission received. All determinations regarding the evaluation of submission

will be at the sole discretion of ZWS. Each submission shall first be evaluated for completeness and for

compliance with the requirements of this RFP. ZWS will evaluate the submission’s team qualifications,

scope of work, deliverable timeline, references, and cost proposal.

Projects and organizations that will receive priority consideration include

Criteria

Description

Increase Edible Food

Recovery Capacity

Proposals aimed at scaling food recovery efforts through increased

capacity to efficiently increase recovery and redistribute of surplus

edible food and supporting the goals of SB 1383 Regulations.

Recover and Redistribute Projects focused on recovering and redistributing hot or cold,

Prepared Foods

prepared food from Tier 2 CEFGs, such as restaurants,

hospitals, and schools.

Distribution model that Organizations that prioritize culturally appropriate food distribution

utilizes Client Choice

with dignity and client choice to select preferred food items.

Demonstrate Community

Partnerships, Shared

Resources and Support

Cooperative projects rooted in the communities they serve that

empower, elevate, and strengthen communities through intentional

collaborations, shared equipment and mutual use of equipment and

other shared resources.

New Grantee Recipients

Organizations who have been awarded this grant previously are not

eligible to receive a second grant. Priority will be given to new

applicants ensuring that resources are expanded to support a broader

range of organizations.

Replacing Aging

Equipment to Maintain

Capacity

Projects focused on replacing outdated or aging equipment

essential for maintaining current edible food recovery and

distribution capabilities.

Underserved Areas

Projects that serve historically underserved areas and

populations of Sonoma County, including West County, tribal

lands, and Census tracks designated as Disadvantaged

Communities (DACs).

Eligible food recovery-related costs could encompass any of the following activities and/or

expenditures:

• Personnel

• Consultants

• Safety equipment / PPE

• Mobile pantries

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• Signage

• Recordkeeping or tracking software, including software to match donors with food

bank, recordkeeping/reporting software, procurement tracking software, apps for

food recovery, and mobile app development

• Training

• Equipment, including food dehydrators, refrigerators, coolers, packaging and

storage materials

• Food safety certification

• Food waste prevention projects

Examples of eligible food recovery projects may include:

• Paying for personnel costs (staff time) to complete monthly reporting and use food

donation app/software

• Paying for personnel costs (staff time) for a food recovery driver to deliver rescued food

• Paying a stipend to volunteers who conduct edible food recovery

• Rental of a vehicle for use in food recovery services

• Purchase of kitchen equipment to improve recovery of prepared foods (i.e., blast

chillers, reusable containers)

• Rental of kitchen facility to prepare and store meals made from donated excess edible

food

• Energy costs for solar-powered (off grid) cold storage

Any costs not directly related to the recovery of excess, edible food are ineligible for

reimbursement. Ineligible costs include:

• purchase of promotional give-away items (SWAG)

• purchase or lease of land or buildings

• food liquefiers

• disposal costs

• costs related to website host and web page domain

• food or beverages (as part of meetings, workshops, events, etc.)

• travel costs, including mileage

Eligible projects include funding on-going food recovery activities, as well as onboarding new

Tier 1 and Tier 2 donors.

Zero Waste Sonoma will provide applicants with the following technical assistance materials:

1. List of all regulated Tier 1 and Tier 2 Generators

2. Free account for CareIt.com food donation software

3. Safe Surplus Food Donation Toolkit

4. "How to Safely Recover Food" best practice one-sheets

5. Model Food Recovery Agreement

6. Model Recordkeeping Tool

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Commodity Codes

• NAICS 722310Food Service Contractors

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