NIGP 38546: Entrees, Seafood

NIGP 38546 Entrees, Seafood is an Item code under which state and local governments procure frozen fish, seafood entrees, and related protein products to support school nutrition programs, corrections facilities, senior services, and special events. School districts dominate activity under this code, with recent solicitations from Tattnall County, Early County, Lamar County, Dougherty County, Houston County, and Richmond County school boards in Georgia; Northside Independent School District in Bexar County, Texas; and the Rockwood R-VI School District in Missouri. State agencies and special-purpose authorities also solicit under this code—the Texas Department of Criminal Justice issued separate solicitations for frozen fish and cafeteria food products, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission sought food and consumables for a state-supported living center in El Paso, the State of Illinois procured weekly food orders, and independent organizations like Invest Atlanta, Head Start of Greater Dallas, and the City of New Haven Board of Education filed recent bids. Solicitations consistently name frozen fish, pollock, chicken, turkey, beef, and prepared seafood entrees as line-item staples, often bundled within broader grocery and food-service RFPs and IFBs that span multiple protein and commodity categories. All school-district procurements mandate compliance with USDA Child Nutrition standards, whole-grain and sodium-reduction requirements, Buy American provisions (typically 51 percent domestic agricultural content), and HACCP plans. Pricing is uniformly firm-fixed with all-inclusive transportation to multiple delivery sites; most contracts run one year with renewal options extending up to five years.

Recent activity concentrates heavily in Georgia and Texas. The Douglas County School System cooperative procurement through GEC Buying Cooperative serves 30 districts across Georgia with $4.4 million and $1.1 million estimated annual spending in two geographic areas (RFP SN 26-004, due March 4, 2026). Houston County School District solicited direct-delivery and warehouse-delivery food bids valued at approximately $14 million annually with 350,000 cases (ITB 27-001, due April 17, 2026). The Texas Department of Criminal Justice issued Invitation for Bid 304T-26-300CF for approximately 382 cafeteria food product line items across five warehouse distribution points, with the response deadline extended to May 4, 2026 via Addendum No. 2. Northside Independent School District (NISD) in San Antonio solicited food, restaurants, catering services, and concessions across 34 product categories through IFB 2026-061 (due June 11, 2026), explicitly requiring all current vendors to recompete or lose business. Invest Atlanta issued a dual-track RFP for food distribution services and municipal market retail operations (due August 6, 2026) with Category B distributors required to source a minimum 10 percent of food product volume from Georgia-based producers at contract start, scaling to 20 percent within 24 months. Head Start of Greater Dallas solicited primary, secondary, and tertiary suppliers of frozen foods, produce, and meat products totaling approximately 32,409 cases to meet Child and Adult Care Food Program requirements (IFB 26-GP, due June 24, 2026, with an estimated total procurement value of $969,460.94). The City of Bridgeport, Connecticut sought grocery items spanning over 1,100 line items for its board of education, requiring Buy American compliance and vendor documentation of 51 percent domestic agricultural ingredients (due June 30, 2026). The City of New Haven and Board of Education Food Service requested commodity and commercial food items shipped directly from manufacturers to support approximately 17,500 to 19,000 meals per day across 224 service days annually, with a mandatory 25 percent minority-owned and women-owned business participation goal (RFP 2026HYRFPCNH346, due June 16, 2026). Sourcing is concentrated in Georgia, Texas, Missouri, Connecticut, Illinois, and additional scattered jurisdictions across the Midwest and South.