UNSPSC 50405801: Acme rutabagas

The variety of rutabagas known as acme rutabagas

UNSPSC 50405801 Acme rutabagas, a Commodity code, describes fresh produce sourcing for institutional food service — school nutrition programs, senior centers, child care facilities, and correctional institutions procuring vegetables, fruits, and mixed fresh produce for meal service. State and local governments purchase fresh produce under this code through a mix of school districts (the dominant buyer type), county boards of education, municipal agencies, and specialized nutrition programs. Recent solicitations span RFPs and IFBs for weekly or seasonal fresh produce delivery to multiple school sites, child nutrition programs, senior services, and institutional feeding operations, with vendors typically competing on pricing indexed to USDA market reports, product quality, delivery reliability, and compliance with food safety standards including HACCP plans and traceability documentation.

The code shows concentrated recent activity across Georgia and Texas, with secondary activity in Florida, Connecticut, and Missouri. Georgia school districts (Dougherty County, Glynn County, Bulloch County, Bryan County, Douglas County, Liberty County, Muscogee County, and Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools) have posted multiple RFPs and IFBs for fresh produce in the 2026–2027 school year, often emphasizing local or regional sourcing and seasonal variety. Texas solicitations include McAllen Independent School District's RFP for fresh produce to 31 campuses (due March 6, 2026), Austin Independent School District's RFP 26RFP034 for fresh produce and beverages (due March 11, 2026), Northside Independent School District's RFP 2026-048 for fresh produce to 117 school sites (due May 7, 2026), and Texas Department of Criminal Justice bulk vegetable bids (carrots, white potatoes, sweet potatoes) for institutional canning and food service. Additional recent opportunities include Hillsborough County Public Schools Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program procurement in Florida (RFP 26039RFPDST, due March 11, 2026), Head Start of Greater Dallas IFB 26-GP for grocery products including produce (due June 24, 2026), Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4163 for fresh fruit and vegetable snacks (due July 29, 2026), and Meriden Public Schools procurement in Connecticut for fresh produce and USDA Foods (RFP 02641, due February 25, 2026). Evaluation criteria across these solicitations consistently weight cost (30–50 percent), product quality and availability (15–30 percent), delivery and service capability (15–25 percent), and vendor qualifications or compliance (10–20 percent). Most school district contracts run July 1 through June 30 annually with optional renewal terms extending up to five years, and pricing is typically firm for the initial contract period with six-month or annual redetermination provisions indexed to USDA Agricultural Marketing Service or Consumer Price Index data.