UNSPSC 50406004: Giant yellow improved shallots

The variety of shallots known as giant yellow improved shallots

UNSPSC 50406004 Giant yellow improved shallots is a Commodity code that maps poorly to state and local procurement activity. The recent opportunities block contains no solicitations explicitly requesting shallots; instead, the tagged records reflect broad fresh produce and food-service contracting by school districts, state agencies, and municipal entities across Georgia, Texas, Florida, Connecticut, and Missouri. The code's nominal scope—a single produce variety—does not align with the actual work being solicited, which encompasses comprehensive fresh-produce supply, multiple vegetable and fruit categories, and integrated food-service logistics for institutional meal programs. State and local buyers treat produce procurement as composite categories spanning dozens of line items (apples, carrots, potatoes, onions, lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, berries, and numerous others), with individual produce types included within line-item bid pricing rather than separately contracted.

Recent opportunities across the tagged records show active solicitation by school nutrition programs, state departments of criminal justice, and municipal food-service entities for fresh-produce supply contracts. The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, Muscogee County School District, Glynn County Board of Education, and Dougherty County Board of Education in Georgia; Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Florida; the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Henry County Schools in Georgia; Meriden Public Schools in Connecticut; and McAllen Independent School District in Texas have all posted RFPs, RFBs, or ITBs for fresh produce during the past four months. Geographic activity concentrates in Georgia, Texas, and Florida. Contract values range from estimated annual spending of $4.4 million (Douglas County's Area One cooperative procurement across 18 districts) down to smaller single-district awards. Evaluation typically weights cost at 30–50 percent, product quality and availability at 15–30 percent, delivery and service capability at 10–25 percent, and vendor qualifications at 5–15 percent. Vendors must carry general liability insurance (typically $1–$2 million), comply with Buy American requirements, maintain HACCP certification, and provide weekly or twice-weekly refrigerated delivery to school sites. Because the code represents a single commodity rather than the composite procurement approach that state and local buyers actually use, vendors pursuing this market should monitor school district and institutional food-service RFPs under broader fresh-produce codes rather than expect discrete shallot-only solicitations.