Protest of Not Receiving Solicitation Despite Being Incumbent Contractor

A firm protested the award of a food service contract to another firm by the Army. The protester contended that it was not solicited for the contract despite the fact that it was the incumbent contractor. The protester also argued that an award of a contract, as presently solicited, would not be in the best interest of the Government and would violate principles of fairness to the incumbent contractor. It was held that where adequate competition results in reasonable prices and where there is no deliberate or conscious intent on the part of the procuring agency to preclude a bidder from competing, a bid need not be rejected solely because a bidder (even the incumbent contractor) did not receive a copy of the invitation for bids. Furthermore, the protester has the burden of proving speculative allegations. The protest was denied.