UNSPSC 50405319: Red storage onions

The variety of onions known as red storage onions

UNSPSC 50405319 Red storage onions (Commodity) is purchased by state and local governments primarily as a component of school nutrition and institutional food service programs, supplied fresh or processed for cafeteria meal preparation and student snack distribution. School districts represent the dominant buyer across the recent opportunities; the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, county boards of education in Georgia, and municipal school systems in Texas and Florida also procure under this code. State purchasing offices in Georgia and Texas have posted broader fresh-produce solicitations that encompass onions alongside carrots, potatoes, and other root vegetables for institutional use.

The mix of issuing bodies skews heavily toward K–12 school districts conducting annual or multi-year food service bids—Madison Metropolitan School District in Wisconsin, Bartow County Schools in Georgia, Dougherty County Board of Education in Georgia, Bulloch County Schools in Georgia, Bryan County Schools in Georgia, Glynn County Schools in Georgia, and Northside and Austin Independent School Districts in Texas all posted produce solicitations between February and July 2026 that include onions as specified line items. Georgia school systems appear most active in this category, with at least six district-level solicitations posted in the first quarter of 2026. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has issued separate IFBs for root vegetables (carrots, white potatoes, sweet potatoes) in June 2026, though onion-specific opportunities from TDCJ are less prominent in the recent block. Municipal purchasing cooperatives such as the GEC Buying Cooperative (serving 30 Georgia school districts) and regional purchasing vehicles amplify the scope of individual RFPs. Head Start child-care programs and senior-services divisions in major cities (Dallas, San Antonio) also procure fresh produce including onions on a smaller, program-specific scale.

Geographic concentration is strongest in Georgia and Texas. Georgia school districts posted at least eight fresh-produce solicitations between February and May 2026, with onions consistently listed among core vegetable items; Texas school districts and state agencies (TDCJ, Comptroller's office, state purchasing) posted approximately six produce or food-service procurements over the same window. Florida, Missouri, and Connecticut solicitations appear less frequently but signal broader national demand. The Bryan County Schools IFB (posted April 27, 2026; due May 27, 2026) specified 790+ cases of onions annually as part of a sealed produce bid; the Bulloch County RFP (posted April 3, 2026; due May 4, 2026) requested pricing on Vidalia onions and white onions as part of a 24-item local-produce farm-to-school initiative; the Dougherty County Board of Education IFB (posted May 19, 2026; due June 16, 2026) included onions among 40 produce line items with estimated usage quantities and unit-price bidding. The Madison Metropolitan School District RFB (posted July 8, 2026; due July 29, 2026) for Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Snacks under federal USDA program funding required produce sourced within 400 miles of Madison and Wisconsin, with Wisconsin Supplier Diversity Program preferences and a 5% preference discount on organic produce. Standard evaluation weighting across the block emphasizes cost (30–50% of points), product quality and availability (15–30%), and service/delivery performance (10–25%), with smaller weights for geographic and diversity preferences.