UNSPSC 50404614: Green leaf lettuce

The variety of lettuce known as green leaf lettuce

UNSPSC 50404614 Green leaf lettuce is a Commodity code under which state and local governments procure fresh produce for school nutrition, child care, senior services, and institutional food service programs. Recent solicitations show districts and agencies buying ready-to-eat, pre-washed, and packaged lettuce and mixed greens alongside broader fresh produce portfolios, often with geographic sourcing preferences, traceability documentation, and farm-of-origin labeling requirements. School nutrition programs dominate the buyer base—elementary, middle, and high schools across Georgia, Texas, Florida, Connecticut, and Missouri issued roughly two-thirds of the recent opportunities—alongside specialized institutional buyers including the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Head Start programs, and county school food authorities. The work spans commodity procurement (bulk lettuce for canning and institutional use) through specialty fresh-pack delivery for USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Programs, with vendors frequently required to maintain HACCP certification, provide traceability systems with 24/7 recall capability, and deliver to multiple school sites weekly.

Geographic activity concentrates in Georgia and Texas, with secondary volume in Florida, Missouri, Connecticut, and scattered municipal activity in Arizona and California. Recent representative solicitations include Northside Independent School District (San Antonio, Texas) seeking fresh produce including lettuce for five-day-per-week delivery to 117 campuses under RFP 2026-048 with proposals due May 7, 2026; Bartow County School System (Cartersville, Georgia) requesting local fresh fruits and vegetables sourced within 400 miles under RFP 10-2026-019 with bids due June 22, 2026; Douglas County School System (Georgia) issuing RFP SN 26-004 through the GEC Buying Cooperative for fresh produce and eggs across 30 districts with estimated annual spending of $5.5 million and proposals due March 4, 2026; and Hillsborough County Public Schools (Tampa, Florida) soliciting cost-plus-fixed-fee fresh specialty produce for the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program under RFP 26039RFPDST with an estimated $600,000 annual budget and proposals due March 11, 2026. Evaluation commonly weights cost at 30–50 percent, product quality and freshness at 15–25 percent, delivery capability and service at 15–20 percent, and vendor qualifications or experience at 10–15 percent. Set-asides and preferences vary: some jurisdictions apply local-sourcing discounts or geographic preference markups; others encourage small-business and minority-owned participation without strict set-asides; a few (notably Texas TDCJ and some Georgia school districts) offer service-disabled veteran or Texas-producer preferences under state law.