UNSPSC 50403706: Sweet florence fennel

The variety of fennel known as sweet florence fennel

UNSPSC 50403706 Sweet florence fennel is a Commodity code representing individual fresh produce items state and local governments procure for school nutrition, senior services, corrections food service, and institutional child care programs. The code sees active solicitation across school districts, state departments of corrections, and municipal senior service divisions, with recent opportunities spanning elementary-to-secondary child nutrition contracts, USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program distributions, and bulk institutional food service for state prison systems. Sweet florence fennel itself appears rarely in posted opportunities; instead, the code sits within a broader fresh produce procurement ecosystem where school districts and state agencies solicit comprehensive vegetable and fruit line items—carrots, potatoes, leafy greens, broccoli, tomatoes, and seasonal specialty items—often bundled with apples, berries, and other fruits under single RFPs or IFBs.

Recent state and local activity concentrates heavily in Georgia and Texas. School districts dominate the issuing-body mix, with repeated solicitations from Bartow County Schools, Dougherty County Board of Education, Bryan County Schools, Glynn County Board of Education, Liberty County Board of Education, Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, and Henry County Schools in Georgia; Northside Independent School District and Austin Independent School District in Texas; and Meriden Public Schools in Connecticut. State corrections agencies appear frequently as institutional buyers—the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has issued multiple bids for carrots, white potatoes, and sweet potatoes for canning and cafeteria food service. School nutrition programs typically structure these procurements as sealed bids or RFPs with responses due between late March and early June 2026, covering contract periods running July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, with options to renew for one to four additional one-year terms. Representative recent opportunities include Bartow County Schools' RFP 10-2026-019 for local fresh fruits and vegetables with a June 22, 2026 deadline and July 20, 2026 anticipated award; the Texas Department of Criminal Justice IFB IW241979-A for 1.2 million pounds of carrots with a March 17, 2026 deadline; and Northside Independent School District RFP 2026-048 for fresh produce across 117 campuses with a May 7, 2026 deadline. Most solicitations impose geographic or sourcing preferences—Bartow County and Bulloch County require produce within 200 to 400 miles; McAllen ISD prioritizes domestic sourcing and produce within 50 miles; AISD emphasizes Good Food Purchasing Program compliance and sustainable sourcing. Contract values where stated range from $600,000 (Hillsborough County FFVP contract) to $4.4 million (Douglas County Cooperative Area One), with most school-based produce procurement falling in the $500,000 to $3.1 million range. Evaluation commonly weights price at 30 to 50 percent, product quality and availability at 15 to 30 percent, and vendor experience and compliance at 10 to 25 percent. Vendors must carry general liability insurance of $500,000 to $2 million, maintain HACCP plans with 24/7 recall capability, comply with Buy American provisions, and meet E-Verify and debarment certifications.