UNSPSC 50301530: Gladstone apples

The variety of apples known as gladstone apples

UNSPSC 50301530 Gladstone apples, a Commodity code, identifies fresh apple varieties procured primarily by school districts and institutional child nutrition programs through sealed bids and RFPs. State and local governments are buying Gladstone apples as part of broader fresh produce contracts for National School Lunch Programs, School Breakfast Programs, CACFP meals, and USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) service to K-12 students. The issuing bodies are predominantly school districts, with occasional procurement by Head Start agencies, senior services divisions, and county departments of human services. Sealed bid and RFP processes dominate this tier, with evaluation criteria typically weighting cost (30–50% of scoring), product quality and availability, delivery reliability, and vendor qualifications. Buy American provisions (requiring minimum 51% domestic agricultural content) and HACCP food safety certification are standard compliance requirements across solicitations.

Geographic activity centers on the South—particularly Georgia, Texas, and Florida—where school districts issued the highest volume of recent fresh produce contracts. Representative opportunities include the Glynn County Board of Education (IFB 27-02, sealed bids due April 14, 2026, for 60+ produce line items including multiple apple varieties for 16 school sites); Bryan County Schools (sealed bids due May 27, 2026, for fresh produce including approximately 1,024 cases of apples annually); DeSoto County School District in Mississippi (bids due June 22, 2026, for full and broken cartons of fresh fruits and vegetables); and Hancock County Board of Education in Georgia (IFB SN002-2027, bids due June 26, 2026, specifying multiple apple varieties—Ambrosia, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Jazz—for three school delivery locations). Contracts typically run July 1 through June 30 with options for one to four one-year renewals. Weekly delivery to multiple school sites is standard, with temperature-controlled vehicles, 97–98% fill-rate mandates, and 24-hour replacement protocols for nonconforming goods common across awards. Price escalation clauses tied to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service reports or regional consumer price indices appear in approximately 40% of recent solicitations.