UNSPSC 50301519: Duchess apples

The variety of apples known as duchess apples

UNSPSC 50301519 Duchess apples, a Commodity code, represents fresh produce supply to institutional food service operations — correctional facilities, school nutrition programs, mental health centers, senior services, child care programs, and regional parks. State and local governments procure duchess apples and mixed fresh fruit and vegetable assortments under this code to support meal programs serving incarcerated persons, schoolchildren, patients, seniors, and program participants. Issuing bodies span state departments (Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Illinois Department of Corrections, Illinois Department of Mental Health), school districts (Madison Metropolitan, DeSoto County, Hancock County, Dougherty County, Early County, Bryan County, Bridgeport Board of Education), counties (Collier County Parks and Recreation), cities (San Antonio, Bridgeport, Edinburg), and specialized entities (Head Start programs, Marion Health Care Coalition). School districts dominate the recent opportunity set, with solicitations for multi-item fresh produce contracts running concurrent with dedicated duchess-apple or petite-banana line items. Correctional and detention facilities represent steady repeat buyers, issuing multiple parallel solicitations for warehouse-level fresh-produce supply to support institutional kitchens.

Recent activity clusters heavily in Texas, Illinois, and Georgia, with additional opportunities in Wisconsin, Mississippi, Connecticut, and Florida. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice posted four fresh-produce solicitations between late September and mid-October 2026 (IW267411, IW267420, IW267376), all due within two weeks of posting. Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4162 for petite bananas (bids due July 29, 2026; estimated annual value $78,000; contract term September 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027) exemplifies school-district scale and specificity: weekly delivery of 70–90 cases, 150-count case packs, 5" to 5.5" length, ripeness stage 3.5–4.5 per Chiquita color guide, early-morning delivery windows, and 98 percent fill-rate minimums. Hancock County Schools' fresh-produce IFB SN002-2027 (bids due June 26, 2026) spans over 200 line items across apple varieties, berries, cruciferous vegetables, root vegetables, melons, citrus, and specialty produce, with contract term July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. Head Start of Greater Dallas' IFB 26-GP for grocery products (estimated total value $969,460.94; sealed bids due June 24, 2026; pre-bid conference April 16, 2026) sought primary, secondary, and tertiary suppliers of frozen foods, produce, and meat for 32,409 cases annually, emphasizing small-business, minority-owned, and woman-owned enterprise participation. Buy American, domestic-sourcing, and local-vendor-preference policies are standard: Bartow County Schools' RFP 10-2026-019 mandates sourcing from farms within 400 miles; Madison Metropolitan's RFB 4163 for fresh fruit and vegetable snacks (contract September 1–November 30, 2026) requires Wisconsin-sourced produce within 400 miles and applies 5 percent diverse-owned business preference and $0.20 per pound organic discount.