UNSPSC 50403518: Thai eggplants

The variety of eggplants known as thai eggplants

UNSPSC 50403518 Thai eggplants is a Commodity code. State and local governments buy fresh produce through this code primarily to support school nutrition programs, institutional food service operations, and senior services. Recent solicitations show procurement of fresh produce intended for direct consumption by students and seniors, with emphasis on ready-to-eat or minimally processed formats, traceability documentation, and compliance with USDA food safety standards including HACCP plans and recall procedures. The issuing bodies are predominantly school districts and school food authorities across multiple states, with a smaller number of state criminal justice institutions and municipal senior services divisions. School nutrition programs dominate the activity, reflecting the statutory requirement to procure produce under USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and National School Lunch Program standards. Evaluation typically weights cost heavily (30–50 percent) alongside product quality, delivery reliability, and vendor experience. Geographic preference and local-sourcing requirements appear frequently, with many districts favoring produce grown within 200–400 miles. Insurance requirements consistently run $500,000 to $2,000,000 general liability coverage.

Activity is concentrated in Georgia and Texas, with notable recent solicitations also in Florida, Missouri, Connecticut, and Arizona. Georgia school districts (Bartow County, Dougherty County, Bryan County, Glynn County, Bulloch County, Savannah-Chatham County, Liberty County, and others) represent the largest cluster of recent opportunities. Texas solicitations include both school districts (Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, McAllen ISD, Austin ISD) and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which procures produce for institutional canning and food service. Representative recent opportunities include Madison Metropolitan School District (RFB 4163, due July 29, 2026) seeking 5,900 weekly servings of fresh fruit and vegetable snacks under a USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program grant with a five percent preference discount on organic produce; Bartow County School System (RFP 10-2026-019, due June 22, 2026) for local fresh fruits and vegetables with 400-mile sourcing requirement and weighted scoring on cost, seasonal variety, and product availability; and Northside Independent School District in San Antonio (RFP 2026-048, due May 7, 2026) for fresh produce delivery to 117 campuses five days per week with USDA reimbursability compliance and Texas-grown preference. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice issued multiple commodity-specific bids (carrots under IW253079, sweet potatoes under IW253121, white potatoes under IW253099) with June 23, 2026 deadlines. Most contracts run July 1 through June 30 on annual terms with renewal options, and many include cost-escalation clauses tied to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service reports or Consumer Price Index data after the initial firm-price period.