UNSPSC 50302005: Chester blackberries

The variety of blackberries known as chester blackberries

UNSPSC 50302005 Chester blackberries (Commodity) names a specific fresh fruit item that state and local governments procure as part of broader produce and food service supply contracts, though the code shows minimal direct solicitation activity under this narrow commodity designation. Recent state and local opportunities confirm that Chester blackberries, when purchased, are typically embedded within larger fresh-produce or grocery-item RFPs issued by school districts, municipal agencies, and child nutrition programs rather than solicited as standalone line items. The issuing bodies pursuing produce and food service supply contracts span school districts (Madison Metropolitan School District, Hancock County Board of Education, Dougherty County Board of Education, Bartow County School System, Bryan County Schools, Henry County Schools, Glynn County Board of Education, Liberty County Board of Education, Bulloch County School District, Early County Board of Education, Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, and others across Georgia, Texas, Connecticut, Florida, Oregon, and Mississippi), child and adult care food programs (City of Edinburg, Texas; Head Start of Greater Dallas), municipal purchasing departments (City of Bridgeport, City of San Antonio, County of Santa Clara), and cooperative purchasing consortia (GEC Buying Cooperative, Douglas County School System). Most opportunities weight cost heavily—typically 30–50 percent of evaluation points—alongside product quality, vendor qualifications, delivery reliability, and compliance with federal nutrition and food safety standards including USDA Buy American requirements, HACCP plans, and whole-grain specifications.

The geographic distribution of recent produce and food-service solicitations clusters heavily in Georgia, Texas, and Florida, with additional activity in Connecticut, Oregon, Mississippi, and California. Representative recent opportunities include Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4162 (Petite Bananas, due July 29, 2026) requesting 70–90 cases weekly at approximately $78,000 annual value; Hancock County Board of Education's IFB #SN002-2027 (Fresh Produce, due June 26, 2026) covering 200+ line items including berries, with prices firm for the contract period; Bartow County School System's RFP 10-2026-019 (Local Fresh Fruit and Vegetable, due June 22, 2026) requiring produce sourced within 400 miles with evaluation weighted 30 percent cost, 25 percent seasonal variety, 20 percent proficiency, 15 percent quality, 10 percent support; and the GEC Buying Cooperative's RFP SN 26-004 (Fresh Produce and Eggs, due March 4, 2026) aggregating demand across 30 Georgia school districts with estimated annual spending of $5.5 million split across two geographic areas. Blackberries and other berries appear as line items in these broader procurements, typically specified by variety, pack size, ripeness stage, and delivery temperature. No opportunities in the dataset were solicited exclusively for Chester blackberries; vendors pursuing this code should expect to compete as produce suppliers within multi-category school nutrition and child care food service contracts where berries represent one of 40–200+ line items.