UNSPSC 50401917: Forono beets

The variety of beets known as forono beets

UNSPSC 50401917 Forono beets (Commodity) is a narrow produce line item that state and local governments procure as part of comprehensive fresh produce sourcing for school nutrition programs, institutional food service, and senior nutrition initiatives. The recent opportunities under this code show that the work actually being bought is fresh produce supply for high-volume institutional distribution—typically beets appear as one line item within larger fresh vegetable procurement scopes that encompass dozens of produce categories, not as standalone specialty items. School districts dominate the issuing-body mix, including Madison Metropolitan School District (Wisconsin), Bartow County Schools (Georgia), Dougherty County Board of Education (Georgia), Bryan County Schools (Georgia), Glynn County Board of Education (Georgia), Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (Georgia), Northside Independent School District (Texas), and McAllen Independent School District (Texas), alongside state agencies such as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and state of Georgia procurement offices, and specialized institutions such as Head Start of Greater Dallas and Hillsborough County Public Schools' USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Recent procurement activity concentrates in Georgia and Texas, with secondary activity in Wisconsin, Florida, and Connecticut, driven by school-year purchasing cycles and state institutional food service operations.

Representative recent opportunities reflect the institutional context: Madison Metropolitan School District issued RFB 4163 (due July 29, 2026) for 5,900 weekly servings of fresh produce under the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, requiring processing and packaging prior to delivery with farm-origin traceability and a 5% preference for diverse-owned suppliers; Dougherty County Board of Education issued sealed bids (due June 16, 2026) for 40 fresh produce line items including carrots, lettuce, potatoes, and tomatoes for 24 school nutrition sites; and Douglas County School System issued RFP SN 26-004 (due March 4, 2026) through the GEC Buying Cooperative for 72 produce line items across 30 school districts in two Georgia regions, with estimated annual spend of $4.4 million for Area One. Pricing in these procurements is typically indexed to USDA market reports (Atlanta Terminal Wholesale Market for Georgia, Specialty Crops Terminal Markets Standard Reports for Texas), with vendors quoting unit cost plus fixed or percentage markups, and contracts run July through June to align with school years. Beets specifically appear in mixed-produce bids but merit pursuit only as part of a broader supply portfolio; standalone beet procurement is not the dominant pattern under this code.