UNSPSC 50404509: Whole Red Lentils

Red lentils are the fastest cooking lentil, but they lose their shape easily and become mushy, making them unsuitable for recipes that call for green or brown lentils. Whole red lentils will require a longer cooking time than split red lentils. WFP food convention.

UNSPSC 50404509 Whole Red Lentils is a Commodity code that covers legume staples purchased by state and local school districts and municipal food service operations as components of broader nutrition programs. In the recent record, whole red lentils appear as one item within multi-category food procurement solicitations serving school breakfast and lunch programs, child care meal services, and commodity-funded nutrition initiatives. State and local buyers source lentils as protein ingredients that meet federal nutrition standards, including Child Nutrition meal pattern requirements and USDA Buy American provisions, and vendors typically supply them as part of integrated food service bids spanning produce, proteins, dairy, dry goods, and related items rather than as standalone commodity purchases.

The issuing bodies driving activity under this code are school districts across multiple states—Madison Metropolitan School District (Wisconsin), Eugene School District 4J (Oregon), Burke County Public Schools and Ben Hill County Schools (Georgia), and Butts County School System (Georgia)—alongside municipal school nutrition programs including the Bridgeport Board of Education (Connecticut) and municipal food service operations such as the City of Edinburg (Texas) supporting CACFP meal programs. Recent solicitations take the form of sealed IFBs and RFPs with bid due dates spanning April through August 2026; representative opportunities include Ben Hill County Schools' IFB #26271 for school nutrition food products (sealed bids due June 15, 2026) and Burke County Public Schools' sealed-bid procurement for grocery items supporting five schools (bids due June 5, 2026, opening June 8). Geographic activity concentrates in the Southeast (Georgia) and Upper Midwest (Wisconsin), with additional activity in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon) and Northeast (Connecticut, Texas). All procurements emphasize firm fixed pricing with limited escalation provisions tied to third-party market indices (USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Consumer Price Index), Buy American compliance, HACCP implementation, and liability insurance thresholds; school districts typically require 30-day firm pricing from award date and weekly or daily deliveries to multiple school sites.