NIGP 38015: Cottage Cheese

NIGP 38015 Cottage Cheese, an Item code, encompasses fluid milk, cultured dairy products including cottage cheese, and related refrigerated and shelf-stable dairy commodities that state and local governments procure for school nutrition programs, institutional food service, and state-supported facilities. School districts dominate solicitation activity under this code, with secondary buyers including state health and human services agencies, county school systems, and municipal boards of education. Scope of work centers on delivering milk in multiple fat contents and flavors (whole, reduced fat, low fat, skim, lactose-free, and chocolate varieties), cottage cheese, sour cream, cream, yogurt, and frozen dairy products in case quantities to school kitchens and state facilities on standing weekly or alternating-day schedules, with products meeting FDA and USDA standards, temperature maintenance (33–41°F), and minimum shelf-life requirements. Vendors typically bid on product line items grouped by category—fluid milk, solid dairy products, and sometimes juices—with pricing either firm fixed or indexed to the Consumer Price Index for renewal periods. Buy American provisions apply across most school and state contracts, requiring minimum 51 percent domestic agricultural content with vendor documentation at bid submission.

Recent activity concentrates in Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Connecticut. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts issued IFB 304T27380M12 (posted August 7, 2026; due August 25, 2026) covering 182 dairy and juice line items with scheduled deliveries to eight juvenile justice facilities and state schools across Texas, with historical annual value of $1.6 million. Pinellas County School District posted IFB 26JG021 (May 13, 2026; due June 11, 2026) soliciting milk, dairy, and juice products for approximately 117 facilities over a two-year term valued at approximately $22.5 million, with pricing divided into three groups including raw-milk-indexed Group A and firm-fixed Groups B and C. Muscogee County School District in Columbus, Georgia issued IFB 26-023 (April 30, 2026; due May 29, 2026) for sixteen dairy product line items with weekly delivery to elementary, middle, and high schools and firm fixed pricing. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission posted IFB HHS0017418 (June 22, 2026; due July 15, 2026) for dairy products and juices statewide to twenty facilities with historical value of $1.6 million annually over a two-year initial term plus optional renewal. Clayton County Public Schools in Georgia solicited under IFB IFB00427 (October 8, 2026; due December 2, 2026) for milk and milk products on an as-needed basis. The City of Bridgeport solicited grocery items including dairy under BNB052266 (June 30, 2026) with 51 percent Buy American requirement and blind testing of samples by school personnel.