UNSPSC 50404621: Romaine lettuces

The variety of lettuce known as romaine lettuces

UNSPSC 50404621 Romaine lettuces, a Commodity code, represents fresh produce items that state and local governments procure for school nutrition programs, child care operations, senior services, and correctional facilities. Recent solicitations show school districts and institutional food service buyers sourcing romaine and mixed lettuces as components of broader fresh produce contracts, typically requiring delivery of ready-to-eat, pre-packaged salad mixes and whole heads meeting USDA quality standards and food safety certifications. The issuing bodies span school districts of varying sizes, county school systems, state departments of criminal justice, Head Start child care programs, and city senior services divisions across multiple states, reflecting institutional food service as the primary buyer segment under this code. School nutrition programs dominate recent activity, with districts specifying salad mixes and leafy greens alongside apples, carrots, broccoli, and other staples in single-vendor or multi-vendor produce contracts.

Recent activity concentrates in Georgia and Texas, with secondary volume in Florida, Connecticut, and Missouri. Representative solicitations include Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4163 (posted July 8, 2026, due July 29, 2026) for fresh fruit and vegetable snacks including pre-packaged produce sourced within 400 miles of Madison with 5 percent preference for Wisconsin-certified diverse-owned vendors; Northside Independent School District's RFP 2026-048 (posted April 14, 2026, due May 7, 2026) for fresh produce delivery to 117 San Antonio-area campuses five days per week; and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's bulk vegetable procurement under IW253121 for sweet potatoes and IW253099 for white potatoes (both posted June 2–3, 2026, due June 23, 2026). Bartow County Schools in Georgia (RFP 10-2026-019, posted May 21, 2026, due June 22, 2026) and Glynn County Schools (IFB 27-02, posted March 16, 2026, due April 14, 2026) exemplify the local-sourcing trend, requiring produce grown within 200–400 miles. School districts increasingly weight geographic preference, organic certification, traceability documentation, and diverse-vendor status alongside cost in evaluation matrices; contracts typically run one year with up to four renewal options, and pricing is firm for the initial term with potential six-month adjustments tied to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service or Consumer Price Index indices. No recent opportunities identify set-aside restrictions limiting pursuit to particular vendor classes.