Campagna di promozione AVEC, call for tender

AVEC, the association of poultry processors and Poultry trade in the EU countries, is a voluntary, non-profit association created in 1966 with the objective of representing and promoting the interests of the European poultry sector. Our members are national organisations representing poultry processors and the poultry trade in 16 EU countries. AVEC’s members represent 95% of the EU poultry meat production. By promoting the interests of the European poultry meat sector as an umbrella organisation, we represent a strong and dynamic entity prepared to handle the present and future challenges of our industry.

Following discussions with several members, AVEC was assigned with the mission to build a program informing on the production methods and high EU standards applying for the production of poultry meat in the European Union. The actions will aim at increasing the public awareness on these methods of production and on the health benefits of eating poultry meat, as well as contradict myths/fake news on the production of poultry meat. By doing so, we expect to raise the consumer confidence in eating poultry meat in the targeted countries and ultimately increase consumption of poultry meat. Lastly, the campaign should show the relevance of poultry meat for the EU economy and highlight the social impact of the production, especially in rural areas. The target audiences will be the consumers but also key opinion leaders, decision makers as well as retailers and catering/food services sectors.

The recruitment of a specialized executive agency is necessary, to plan and execute the actions covered in this program in case AVEC successfully gets selected by CHAFEA. AVEC expects a sustainable partnership with the implementing agency, based on high mutual confidence, considering the budgets involved and the need to sustain our AVEC members’ confidence via the proposed program.

AVEC will be the proposing organisation and will receive support from the AVEC members from Italy (UNAITALIA), France (CIDEF-FIA), Germany (BVG), Poland (KRD) and Netherlands (NEPLUVI). A consortium agreement will be defined between AVEC and the afore-mentioned members to define their relation. The agency will have to deal with AVEC as proposing agency, but also with all these members individually to implement the program in their respective target countries.

The campaign will promote EU poultry meat in general, meaning that a focus on the different species (chicken, turkey, guinea fowls, ducks,…) is possible depending on the different activities and targets.

This program could include the following activities:

• public relation activities
• organisation of exhibitions/conferences,
• advertising in medias (press-radio),
• development of social media campaigns,
• production of market and economic studies
• as well as other activities suitable to fulfil the above-mentioned targets.

The program will have a total budget of 5.500.000 € available for execution of the actions by the executive agency and for a total duration of the program of 2 years.

The target countries will be Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Belgium. The target audience in the different countries will be defined in agreement with local AVEC national member. In Belgium specifically, the target audience will be decision makers.

2/ ELEMENTS EXPECTED IN THE BID

The detailed proposition (PowerPoint format preferred) should be sent imperatively in English to Ms. Birthe Steenberg (bs@avec-poultry.eu) and should include:

1. A presentation of the agency including information on its financial viability, on its competences for accompanying AVEC with these missions and on its knowledge on rules concerning EU-funded promotion programs
2. A Proposal based on the knowledge of the target countries regarding production, consumption and consumer habits of poultry meat. The agency should be able to propose a range of actions based on the different criteria set by AVEC.
3. The agency should describe the objectives, the target audience, as well as the expected deliverables and should include a budgetary proposition for each action within the general frame defined for that campaign.

The proposal should take into account the compulsory EU signature and other graphic elements as stipulated in Regulation EC/1144/2014 and related legislation. The selected executive agency will need to strictly adhere to these criteria for all actions planned and carried out, as non-compliance with these EU rules would lead to non-eligibility of the actions and loss of funding. In case AVEC dossier will not be selected, the implementation of the campaign should off course have no purpose.

3/ SUPPORT ACTIONS

Actions carried out by the executive agency under this program may fall under the following activities:

• public relation activities:
• organisation of exhibitions/conferences:
• advertising in medias (press-radio),
• development of social media campaigns:
• production of market analysis and economic studies:
• other activities suitable to fulfil the above-mentioned targets.

The agency will have to propose how to articulate and adapt all these actions to the different target countries. For each of them, the agency will have to work with the AVEC members to define the budget and the selected actions to adapt the strategy in the country, within the frame described earlier in this document.

An evaluation agency will also be selected by AVEC to audit the program. The selected executive agency will be expected to facilitate the work of the evaluation agency as required throughout the project, e.g. provide information requested by the evaluation agency, participate in occasional meetings with the evaluation agency and take on board its recommendations.

4/ PROPOSED PLANNING

• 12 March:  Deadline for sending application to the tender
• 18 March by 18h00: notification of the chosen agency and detailed notification to the other agencies of non-selection
• 27 March: signature of collaboration agreement and start of collaboration

5/ SELECTION CRITERIA

The selection will be done by a jury composed of AVEC’s Secretary General as well as AVEC members from Italy, Poland, France, Germany and Netherlands which are involved in the project.

Selection criteria:

1. Quality and coherence of the strategy, argumentation of proposed actions (30 points)
2. Value for money (20 points)
3. Comprehension and strict respect of UE promotion rules (20 points)
4. Experience in EU promotion projects/communication actions as well as quality of the information provided on financial viability of the agency (20 points)
5. Qualifications of the project management team and experience in the 6 target countries (10 points)

6/ CONTACTS

Ms. Birthe Steenberg, Secretary General of AVEC (bs@avec-poultry.eu) is available to answer any questions agencies might have (tel: + 32 (0) 492 10 75 71).