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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Food Data Infrastructure and Governance

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS · Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 30 Sept 2026, 03:16.

Opportunity overview

This project’s aims are three-fold: to design and develop a data sharing infrastructure suitable for the UK agri-food system; advise on an optimal governance model for this infrastructure; and pilot data sharing across a selection of food product supply chains. The project will begin with a discovery phase that will form a picture of the current data sharing ecosystem in the agri-food sector and learn from current practice within and outside of the agri-food sector. Following this, a detailed design of a potential DSI system architecture will be developed alongside an optimal model of system governance. Data sharing pilots in specific agri-food supply chains will consider how data sharing can be operationalised and incentivised to inform this design, identifying and proposing solutions to scale-up participation. The outputs of this project should provide the evidence base for government and industry to invest in and deliver DSI that delivers public goods and promotes sustainable growth and resilience of the UK agri-food sector. Support the work of UK government to create a smart data ecosystem with in the Agri-Food Sector. It should take into account major international data sharing infrastructure in development such as the EU ‘digital product passports’ and the UN CEFACT ‘Transparency Protocol’ and align with any UK data sharing policy that emerges between project procurement and inception. This project should use the Digital Twin Hub’s Gemini Principles (Figure 2), Smart Data initiatives such as Open Banking, and the FDTP Key Principles as a basis for the aims and outcomes of the DSI and governance design work.

Classification

  • CPV73100000 — Research and experimental development services

Lots

  • Lot 1Value not stated

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
ocds-h6vhtk-0523ef
Status
complete
Above Threshold
No
Procurement Method
open
Main Procurement Category
services
Procurement Method Details
Below threshold - open competition

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Tender Period

Ends
3 Nov 2025, 12:00

Enquiry period

Ends
20 Oct 2025, 12:00

Special regime

concession

Submission terms

Electronic Submission Policy
allowed

Additional Procurement Categories

works

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
complete
Has Options
Yes
Has Renewal
Yes

Value

Amount
0
Currency
GBP
Including VAT
0

Options

Description
Break Clause The contract term is 18 months with a break clause 6 months into the project; upon receipt of the Work Package 2 Technical Report.

Renewal

Description
There is an option of a 6-month extension to the project contingent on satisfactory delivery and the needs of the Authority (Defra). Due to unknown situations any extension must be agreed with the Authority (Defra) and will be processed via a Variation/ Contract Change Note (CCN) issued by DGC. (Should an extension request arise at a cost and agreed on, then an additional invoice will need to be sent to cover the period between the interim payment and the original project end date).

Suitability

Sme
Yes
Vcse
Yes

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Name
Technical
Type
quality
Description
E01: Approach and methodology – 30% E02: Project management (including project plan) – 20% E03: Proposed staff and contractor/sub-contractor expertise – 25% E04 Risk – 10% E05 Social Value – 15%

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
70
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 2
Name
Commercial
Type
price
Description
Total Cost

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
30
Weight
percentageExact

Contract period

Ends
12 Jul 2027, 23:59
Starts
12 Jan 2026, 00:00
Max Extent Date
11 Jan 2028, 23:59

Selection criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Description
Part 1 - confirmation of core supplier information: suppliers participating in procurements will now be expected to register on a central digital platform (CDP). Suppliers can submit their core supplier information and, where a procurement opportunity arises, share this information with the contracting authority via the CDP. It is free to use and will mean suppliers should no longer have to re-enter this information for each public procurement but simply ensure it is up to date and subsequently shared. The CDP is available at https://www.gov.uk/find-tender. Part 1 provides confirmation that suppliers have taken these steps. Part 2 - additional exclusions information: procurement legislation provides for an ‘exclusion regime’ and a published ‘debarment’ list to safeguard procurement from suppliers who may pose a risk (for example, due to misconduct or poor performance). Suppliers must submit their own (and their connected persons ) exclusions information via the CDP. This includes self-declarations as to whether any exclusion grounds apply to them and, if so, details about the event or conviction and what steps have been taken to prevent such circumstances from occurring again.

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UK
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
73100000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Research and experimental development services

Published documents

Entry 1
Id
061730-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK4
Description
Tender notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
tenderNotice
Published
2 Oct 2025, 13:55
Entry 2
Id
084789-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK12
Description
Procurement termination notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
tenderCancellationNotice
Published
19 Dec 2025, 11:08

Planning and budget

Documents

Entry 1
Id
026775-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK2
Description
Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
marketEngagementNotice
Published
23 May 2025, 15:36

Milestones

Entry 1
Id
engagement
Type
engagement
Status
scheduled
Due
2 Jun 2025, 23:59
Description
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO HOLD PRELIMINARY ENGAGEMENT Food Data Infrastructure and Governance (FIG) Project In collaboration with the Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP), Defra’s Agri-Food Science team are tendering for a new R&D project on Agri-food system data sharing infrastructure and governance. This project has the following aims: 1. To identify the breadth of data and data sharing initiatives, currently within the agri-food system. 2. To provide detailed recommendation for the design and development of a data sharing infrastructure suitable for the UK agri-food system. 3. To explore the feasibility of operationalising product level environmental impact data sharing across a selection of food product supply chains, through piloting the proposed data sharing infrastructure. The work will build on the work of the FDTP and associated R&D projects commissioned by the Defra Agri-Food science team. More information can be found at the following links: • https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/food-data-transparency-partnership • https://www.wrap.ngo/resources/report/led-4-food-project Bidders should be able to demonstrate good technical understanding of the key themes of the project: digital infrastructure, data sharing infrastructure, date system architecture, and governance structures. They should also have a good understanding of the complexity of the agri-food system. Bidders are encouraged to submit joint bids to ensure that multi-disciplinary requirements across the themes can be satisfied. The project is to be contracted through an open tender competition. It is expected to commence in September 2025 and will last for approximately 18 months. Supplier Engagement Event Please note that the Authority (Defra); will be holding a supplier event in w/c 9th June 2025 (exact time and date TBD). If you and or your organisation is interested in attending this event, please respond using the email address below: FoodDataTransparencyPartnership@defra.gov.uk on or before Monday 2nd June by 12:00pm. Please include the name and email address of who to invite. An invite will be shared via teams. Regards Defra

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Id
GB-PPON-PNBD-3289-CDGX
Name
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UKI32
Country
GB
Locality
London
Postal Code
SW1P 4DF
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Id
publicAuthorityCentralGovernment
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Description
Public authority - central government

Identifier

Id
PNBD-3289-CDGX
Scheme
GB-PPON

Contact

Name
Defra
Telephone
03459 335577

Award information

Award 1
Id
1
Status
cancelled
Status Details
The Procurement has been terminated due to unforeseen circumstances.
Final Status Date
18 Dec 2025, 00:00

Related lots

1

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · London · UKI32 · SW1P 4DF · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UK · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-0523ef-2025-12-19T11:08:14ZPreliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ·