UNSPSC 50404608: Red oak leaf lettuce

The variety of lettuce known as red oak leaf lettuce

UNSPSC 50404608 Red oak leaf lettuce (Commodity) is procured by state and local governments primarily as part of institutional meal programs serving school districts, detention facilities, child care centers, and senior services—appearing in these recent solicitations as one line item within comprehensive fresh produce contracts rather than as a standalone bid. The code captures fresh lettuce varieties used in ready-to-eat salads, prepared produce kits, and weekly meal service delivery, typically sourced within specified geographic radii (often 200–400 miles of the purchasing entity) to meet local-sourcing preferences. Procurement is driven by school nutrition programs operating USDA-funded child nutrition reimbursable meal service; institutional food service operations serving criminal justice, Head Start, and senior centers; and district-level competitive bidding cycles aligned to fiscal-year budgets (most commonly July 1 through June 30 contracts with optional renewals).

School districts dominate recent activity, with Georgia school systems (Dougherty County, Bulloch County, Bryan County, Glynn County, Liberty County, Muscogee County, Savannah-Chatham County, Henry County, Douglas County) and Texas independent school districts (Northside ISD in San Antonio, Austin ISD, McAllen ISD, Hillsborough County in Tampa) each soliciting produce contracts covering 60–72 line items that include lettuce varieties. Texas Department of Criminal Justice and Head Start of Greater Dallas also appear as repeat institutional buyers. Recent solicitations are concentrated in Georgia and Texas; secondary activity includes Missouri (Rockwood R-VI School District), Connecticut (Meriden Public Schools), and Florida. Representative recent opportunities include the Bartow County School System RFP 10-2026-019 (Georgia, RFP, proposals due June 22, 2026) for local fresh fruits and vegetables with 400-mile sourcing requirement; Bryan County Schools sealed bid (Georgia, sealed bid, due May 27, 2026) covering 10+ produce items with estimated case quantities; and Austin Independent School District RFP 26RFP034 (Texas, RFP, proposals due March 11, 2026) for fresh produce and beverages across multiple campus sites. Pricing in these contracts is typically quoted on a per-unit or per-pound basis with delivery included, evaluation weighted heavily toward cost (30–50 points), and awards made on a line-item basis to allow multiple vendors or to a single primary supplier per category.