NIGP 16544: Food Containers, Stainless Steel, Vacuum Type

NIGP 16544 Food Containers, Stainless Steel, Vacuum Type is an Item code that sits within a broader purchasing category for food service disposables and equipment. State and local governments procure under this code primarily as part of larger school nutrition, correctional facility, and institutional foodservice operations—not as standalone stainless steel vacuum containers but as line items within comprehensive supplies contracts that bundle disposable food containers, paper products, chemicals, and equipment. The code sees activity from school districts, county correctional authorities, and school boards issuing RFPs and ITBs for foodservice operations serving hundreds or thousands of daily meals. Issuing bodies include large school systems such as Douglas County School System (Georgia), Fulton County Schools (Georgia), and Temple Independent School District (Texas); county corrections departments such as Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; and school boards such as Seminole County, Florida. These entities typically consolidate foodservice procurement across multiple line items—aluminum pans and lids, plastic containers, food wraps, cleaning chemicals, and paper products—rather than purchasing containers in isolation.

Recent activity clusters in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Douglas County School System issued an RFP 26-006 on February 4, 2026, for paper and chemical supplies covering 111 to 143 line items with an estimated annual spend of approximately $750,000, due March 4, 2026; the contract runs July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, with automatic renewal for up to four additional one-year terms. Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, posted solicitation 426 on May 29, 2026, for furnishing and delivering groceries, meats, cereals, and paper products to its correctional facility, due July 1, 2026, covering the period July 13 through October 12, 2026, with an amendment changing Item #0-46 (Saltine Crackers) unit specification to cases of 500 packets per case. Temple Independent School District in Bell County, Texas, solicited kitchen equipment and fixtures for a new high school cafeteria via RFP 008-26, due March 25, 2026, requiring vendors to demonstrate five years of continuous operation supplying commercial kitchen equipment to K-12 institutions and maintain $1,000,000 commercial general liability coverage. The Seminole County, Florida, School Board issued ITB 25260063B-VG for commercial kitchen equipment with an estimated annual procurement volume of approximately $1,500,000 and fixed percentage discounts off manufacturers' published price lists firm for three years with a potential two-year renewal.