UNSPSC 50302518: Ruby bing cherries

The variety of cherries known as ruby bing cherries

UNSPSC 50302518 Ruby bing cherries is a Commodity code that identifies a specific fresh fruit item for institutional food service, though recent state and local procurement activity shows minimal direct solicitation under this code—the source contains no recent opportunities specifically requesting ruby bing cherries by name or variety. Instead, state and local buyers are procuring fresh produce through broader family-level categories that include cherries as one line item among dozens of fruit and vegetable varieties. School districts, county nutrition programs, and cities solicit fresh fruit under produce-category RFPs and RFBs that name apples, bananas, berries, citrus, melons, and other common items with frequency; cherries appear occasionally within these broader fresh-fruit specifications, but ruby bing cherries in particular do not appear in any of the recent solicitations examined. This signals that the Commodity code sits at the tail of demand—institutional buyers typically specify produce by broad fruit categories (fresh fruit, berries, stone fruit) rather than by cultivar or color variety, and they allow vendors to propose substitutes within those categories based on seasonal availability and cost.

The issuing bodies across recent fresh-produce solicitations are predominantly school districts (Madison Metropolitan, Savannah-Chatham, Bulloch County, Glynn County, Dougherty County, Liberty County, Muscogee County, Bryan County, Henry County, Early County, and others across Georgia, Wisconsin, Florida, Connecticut, Oregon, and Texas), with secondary activity from city nutrition programs (San Antonio senior services), county school systems, and cooperative purchasing vehicles (GEC Buying Cooperative spanning 30 Georgia districts). Geographic concentration is strongest in Georgia, which shows the highest frequency of recent produce solicitations, followed by Texas and Florida school districts. Representative recent opportunities include Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4162 for petite bananas (70–90 cases weekly, $78,000 annual value, due July 29, 2026) and RFB 4163 for fresh fruit and vegetable snacks with Wisconsin local-sourcing requirement (5,900 servings weekly, due July 29, 2026); Glynn County Board of Education's IFB 27-02 for fresh produce to 16 schools (approximately 60 line items including apples, berries, grapes, and specialty items, due April 14, 2026); and the GEC Buying Cooperative's RFP SN 26-004 (two geographic areas across 30 Georgia districts, approximately $5.5 million combined annual spending, due March 4, 2026). Ruby bing cherries, when purchased, are likely embedded within these broader fresh-fruit commodity buys rather than sourced as standalone line items, making pursuit of this Commodity code impractical without visibility into line-item-level fruit variety breakouts within active produce contracts.