UNSPSC 50405708: Specialty potatoes

The variety of potatoes known as specialty potatoes

UNSPSC 50405708 Specialty potatoes is a Commodity code tracking state and local procurement of potatoes for institutional food service, including fresh tubers for school nutrition programs, correctional facilities, and child care operations. Recent solicitations reveal that state and local governments buy specialty potato varieties—white potatoes for bulk institutional canning and processing, sweet potatoes for correctional-facility food service, and fresh potatoes for school lunch programs—often as components of broader fresh-produce contracts serving K–12 nutrition, Head Start, and criminal-justice food service missions. School districts dominate the issuing-body mix, with secondary activity from state corrections departments and county education systems; procurement offices weight cost heavily (30–50 percent of evaluation), emphasize local or domestic sourcing when specifications allow, and increasingly pair produce contracts with sustainability or farm-to-school language. Texas correctional facilities and Georgia school districts represent the most active recent buyers under this code.

Recent opportunities include the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Invitation for Bid IW253121 for sweet potatoes for canning (bids due June 23, 2026) and IW253099 for white potatoes for canning (bids due June 23, 2026), both solicited through the TDCJ Procurement Portal; the Bartow County School System's Request for Proposal 10-2026-019 for local fresh fruits and vegetables sourced within 400 miles, with a June 22, 2026 deadline and contract award anticipated July 20, 2026; and the Madison Metropolitan School District's Request for Bids 4163 for fresh fruit and vegetable snacks (predominantly produce, bids due July 29, 2026) under the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which weights geographic preference at 15 percent and organic produce at $0.20 per pound in final pricing. Activity concentrates in Texas (state corrections procurement) and Georgia (school-district purchasing), with secondary opportunities in Wisconsin and Florida school systems. The code shows steady institutional demand for commodity and specialty potatoes, though contract values and volumes remain modest relative to broader produce and grocery procurements where potatoes typically appear as line items within larger solicitations rather than standalone buys.