UNSPSC 50405901: Agar-agar

The variety of sea vegetables known as agar-agar

UNSPSC 50405901 Agar-agar is a Commodity code that tracks procurement of hydrocolloid and gelling agents used in food production, but state and local governments use this code primarily to tag fresh produce and food service supply contracts rather than specialty additives—the recent opportunities block shows zero relevant solicitations for agar-agar itself, instead capturing school nutrition, child care, and corrections facility fresh produce, beverage, and grocery procurement. The issuing bodies span school districts (Madison Metropolitan, Hillsborough County, Northside Independent, Rockwood R-VI, Henry County, multiple Georgia school systems), Head Start organizations (Head Start of Greater Dallas), state corrections agencies (Texas Department of Criminal Justice), city and county nutrition programs (San Antonio senior services, Meriden Public Schools, Douglas County collaborative), and state procurement offices (Texas Comptroller on behalf of TDCJ, State of Georgia). Repeat buyers include the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (appearing in at least six solicitations for carrots, sweet potatoes, and white potatoes for inmate food service) and Georgia school districts (Bartow County, Dougherty County, Bryan County, Glynn County, Bulloch County, Liberty County, Muscogee County, and Savannah-Chatham County all posting fresh produce bids).

The code shows heaviest recent activity in Texas (TDCJ bulk vegetable procurement, McAllen Independent School District, Northside Independent School District, Austin Independent School District) and Georgia (multiple school system produce contracts), with secondary activity in Florida (Hillsborough County), Connecticut (Meriden Public Schools), and Missouri (Rockwood R-VI). Representative recent solicitations include Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4163 for fresh fruit and vegetable snacks due July 29, 2026, targeting 5,900 weekly servings with local sourcing within 400 miles of Wisconsin, 5% diverse-vendor preference, and $0.20 per pound organic preference; Hillsborough County Public Schools' RFP for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program delivery to 18 elementary schools with proposals due March 11, 2026 and estimated annual budget of $600,000; and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's IFB IW253079 for carrots and IFB IW253099 for white potatoes for inmate food service, both due June 23, 2026. School nutrition programs dominate the opportunity stream, with emphasis on Buy American compliance, HACCP certification, weekly or twice-weekly delivery schedules to multiple school sites, traceability documentation, and firm pricing with periodic cost-adjustment provisions tied to USDA market indices or Consumer Price Index data.