UNSPSC 50131803: Imitation cheese

UNSPSC 50131803 Imitation cheese (Commodity) covers shelf-stable cheese products procured by state and local governments for institutional food service, school nutrition programs, and food concession operations. State and local buyers are sourcing individually wrapped cheese sticks and planks for school lunch programs, sliced low-sodium cheese for correctional facilities, shredded cheese blends for institutional kitchens, and bulk cheese products for state-supported living centers and parks concession operations. Recent solicitations show sustained demand across school districts, state health and human services agencies, state departments of corrections, and county parks systems. Issuers span the jurisdictional mix — state departments (Oregon Department of Corrections, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Illinois Chief Procurement Office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice), county governments (Collier County), city school systems (New Haven Public Schools, Bridgeport Board of Education, Early County Board of Education), and independent school districts (Pinellas County School District) — with repeat activity from state prison and institutional feeding programs.

Recent activity concentrates in Texas, Oregon, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Florida. Representative solicitations include the City of New Haven and Board of Education Food Service RFP for shelf-stable cheese (80,000 portions of individually wrapped, tamper-evident cheese sticks in four flavors, due October 27, 2026); the Oregon Department of Corrections ITB for shredded blend cheese (120,000 pounds at up to $1.10 per pound, due September 4, 2026); the Texas Health and Human Services Commission IFB for frozen food products across state hospitals and living centers ($9 million estimated annual volume, due August 18, 2026); the Collier County Board of County Commissioners ITN for food services at North Collier Regional Park including concession cheese operations (due March 6, 2025); and the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts IFB for cafeteria food products to TDCJ warehouses across five geographic areas (382 line items including American sliced and Colby Jack cheese, due May 4, 2026). Buy American provisions, local-vendor preferences worth evaluation points, and MWBE participation incentives appear in recent school district and municipal solicitations. Commodity-code activity is steady and geographically dispersed across institutional and educational buyers with predictable annual renewal cycles.