UNSPSC 50402907: Salad king chicory

The variety of chicory known as salad king chicory

UNSPSC 50402907 Salad king chicory is a Commodity code that sees limited direct procurement activity in state and local markets; instead, state and local buyers solicit fresh produce broadly and award contracts to vendors capable of supplying mixed vegetable and fruit portfolios that include chicory and related leafy greens as line items within larger food-service supply agreements. School districts dominate the issuing bodies—appearing in roughly 90 percent of recent opportunities—with secondary activity from county boards of education, independent school districts in Texas, and specialized food-service procurement vehicles such as cooperative buying groups (GEC Buying Cooperative) and Head Start programs. The work being solicited ranges from single-commodity bids on carrots, white potatoes, and sweet potatoes (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) to comprehensive fresh-produce contracts covering 60–72 line items including apples, bananas, broccoli, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes delivered weekly to elementary, middle, and high schools, and child nutrition sites. Recent opportunities emphasize USDA compliance, HACCP certification, domestic-sourcing preferences (Buy American), and flexible monthly or seasonal ordering with lead times as short as one to two weeks. School nutrition programs typically require pre-cooling, refrigerated transport, weekly deliveries across multiple sites during school-operating hours (6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.), and detailed traceability documentation; some school districts impose local-sourcing mandates (produce grown within 200–400 miles) and apply price preferences for organic items or Texas-grown products.

Activity concentrates in Georgia and Texas, with secondary clusters in Florida, Connecticut, and Missouri. Georgia shows the densest recent activity: Bartow County Schools (May 2026, RFP, local-sourced produce), Dougherty County Board of Education (May 2026, sealed bid, 40 line items), Glynn County Schools (March 2026, IFB, 60 line items), Bryan County Schools (April 2026, sealed bid), Liberty County Schools (March 2026, IFB), Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools (March 2026, bid), and Douglas County Schools (February 2026, RFP, 30-district cooperative serving two geographic areas with $4.4 million estimated annual spend). Texas opportunities include McAllen Independent School District (March 2026, RFP, 20,000 students, 31 campuses), Austin Independent School District (February 2026, RFP), Northside Independent School District, San Antonio (April 2026, RFP), and Texas Department of Criminal Justice institutional food service (multiple IFBs for carrots, white potatoes, and sweet potatoes). Hillsborough County Public Schools, Tampa (April 2026, RFP, USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program), Head Start of Greater Dallas (June 2026, IFB), and the City of San Antonio Senior Services Division (May 2026, RFP, produce-market operations) represent broader geographic reach. Sealed bids and RFPs dominate; response deadlines cluster April through June 2026, with contract terms typically running July 1 through June 30 the following year and allowing up to four one-year renewal options.