NIGP 38015: Cottage Cheese

NIGP 38015 Cottage Cheese (Item) covers dairy products, particularly milk, cottage cheese, cream, and sour cream, purchased by state and local governments to supply school lunch programs, state hospitals, and state-supported living centers. State and local agencies are buying standardized dairy items in bulk—whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, skim, and lactose-free milk in multiple package sizes; cottage cheese in containers ranging from half-pint to five-pound units; cream and sour cream; and related refrigerated dairy products—through IFBs, RFPs, and ITBs with firm fixed pricing and strict nutritional compliance tied to the National School Lunch Program and the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act. Issuing bodies include large urban school districts (Pinellas County, Muscogee County, Bridgeport Board of Education, Rockwood R-VI), county school systems (Douglas County), state health agencies (Texas Health and Human Services Commission), and independent school districts across the country, with school nutrition programs representing the dominant buyer class.

Recent solicitation activity spans Connecticut, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Missouri. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission issued IFB HHS0017418 in June 2026 for dairy products and juices across 20 state-supported living centers with $1.6 million annual value and a two-year contract term through August 2028. The Pinellas County School District posted a two-year RFQ (26JG021, due June 11, 2026) valued at approximately $22.5 million covering milk, dairy, and juice products for 117 district facilities, with pricing structured by product group and product acceptance testing required. The Muscogee County School District in Columbus, Georgia issued ITB 26-023 (due May 29, 2026) for milk and sixteen dairy product line items, with weekly direct delivery to school kitchens and the Buy American Act (7 CFR 210.21(d)) requiring 51 percent domestic agricultural content. The City of Bridgeport Department of Public Purchases solicited grocery items including dairy products (BNB052266, due June 30, 2026) for the Board of Education's Food & Nutrition Services, requiring blind testing and USDA compliance. Cottage cheese appears as a line item in broader dairy solicitations, often bundled with milk and other refrigerated dairy under school lunch and institutional food-service contracts with 48-month delivery windows, electronic ordering systems integration (LINQ, Bonfire, OpenGov portals), and mandatory product liability insurance at $1 million per occurrence.