Government food bids for distributors
Federal, state, school district and city/county food bids, matched to what you sell and where you deliver. That covers the Bureau of Prisons, USDA, military, VA, state agencies, school districts, and cities and counties. Plus a line-item bid sheet that shows the price to beat on every line.
From public notice to a priced bid sheet
Federal prisons, military bases and USDA post food bids every quarter, and states, school districts, cities and counties bid out food too. They often come with dozens of line items and short deadlines. Food Bids finds the ones that fit you and does the busywork.
Tell us what you sell
Your product categories, your home state and the region you deliver to, and which buyers you want: federal (prisons, military, USDA, VA), state agencies, school districts, or cities and counties.
Get matched bids
A weekly digest of open federal, state, school district and city/county food bids in your categories and region, with due dates, set-asides, compliance flags and a calendar of upcoming quarterly rebids.
Price and submit
On Bid-sheet prep, we turn the pricing schedule into a sheet in the agency's line order, priced from your costs, next to last quarter's winning prices. You review it and submit it yourself.
Two plans, billed monthly.
Alerts is $99 a month. Alerts + Bid-sheet prep is $149 a month at founding-member pricing, for waitlist members who join the founding pilot. The service and its prices aren't final and may change before launch.
- Matched digest: open federal, state, school district and city/county food bids in your categories and region, with due date, days left, set-aside and a link to the official notice
- Rebid calendar: a forecast of when each prison and base posts its next quarterly bid, plus an alert the day it does
- Compliance flags: kosher/halal and US-origin rules, required forms, all-or-nothing terms, and a SAM registration expiry reminder
- Everything in Alerts
- Bid-sheet export: the pricing schedule parsed and exported in the agency's line order
- Cost-plus pricing sheet: upload your cost list, set a markup, and we fill in the sheet
- Price to beat: past winning prices by item and facility, from public award notices
- Full checklist: forms, certification letters, delivery terms and deadline
- Win/loss tracker: your bid vs. the winning price, over time
- Teaming matches: partners for lines you don't carry, like produce or dairy
- Post-award reminders: delivery schedules, invoices and the next rebid date
Joining the waitlist is free and doesn't commit you to anything. We'll contact waitlist members about the founding pilot before any payment is collected. Food Bids helps you find and prepare bids; you submit every bid yourself, and no outcome or award is guaranteed.
What you'd get
These samples use real public SAM.gov notices from an Oct 19, 2026 data snapshot, prepared for a fictional distributor ("Example Foods Co., Waukesha WI"). Anything shown as the user's own data, like costs, bids or partners, is labeled as example data.
Join the waitlist
Tell us a little about your business. We'll use it to shape the first version and invite founding members to the pilot.
Questions
Is Food Bids live?
Not yet. We're collecting a waitlist and planning a small founding-member pilot. Nobody is charged for joining the waitlist.
Do you submit bids for me?
No. We find bids and prepare the bid sheet and checklist. You review, price and submit every bid yourself, directly to the agency.
Where does the data come from?
Public notices. Federal bids come from SAM.gov contract opportunities, including award updates that list winning prices. State, school district and city/county bids come from those agencies' own public bid postings and procurement portals. Always confirm details on the official notice before you bid.
Which bids and areas do you cover?
Federal food bids nationwide, plus state, school district and city/county food bids. Local coverage varies by area and is growing, so we'll tell you what we cover in your region before the pilot starts. You choose the region you deliver to, and USDA and DLA buys that ship nationwide are included for everyone.
Are you affiliated with the government?
No. Food Bids by Steady Bids is a private service. It isn't affiliated with SAM.gov, the Bureau of Prisons, USDA, DLA, VA, or any state agency, school district, city or county.