UNSPSC 50406011: Topper shallots

The variety of shallots known as topper shallots

UNSPSC 50406011 Topper shallots is a Commodity code that describes a single produce item, yet the recent state and local procurement activity under this code reveals a far broader institutional buying pattern: school districts, county nutrition programs, and state criminal-justice food services are buying fresh produce in bulk volume, and they are tagging a wide range of vegetable and fruit purchases—including carrots, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and comprehensive produce assortments—under produce-specific codes. The Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4163 for Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Snacks (response due July 29, 2026) seeks approximately 5,900 servings weekly of ready-to-eat, inspected, and pre-packaged produce sourced within 400 miles of Madison, Wisconsin, with a 5% preference discount for organic items and a 5% preference boost for Wisconsin-certified diverse-owned suppliers; Head Start of Greater Dallas' IFB 26-GP (response due June 24, 2026) procures roughly 32,409 cases of produce and protein to meet Child and Adult Care Food Program requirements across an estimated $969,460.94 contract value. The issuing bodies span school districts (Madison Metropolitan, Northside Independent in San Antonio, Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, McAllen Independent in Texas, Austin Independent School District, Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, Glynn County Board of Education in Georgia, Bulloch County and Muscogee County and Liberty County and Douglas County school systems in Georgia), county nutrition programs (Bartow County, Dougherty County, Bryan County, and other Georgia districts), state departments (Texas Department of Criminal Justice for carrots, sweet potatoes, and white potatoes under multiple IFBs with June 23 and March 17 due dates), and early-childhood programs (Head Start of Greater Dallas). Geographic activity concentrates in Texas (TDCJ solicitations, McAllen, Austin, San Antonio, Head Start Dallas), Georgia (school districts in Bartow, Dougherty, Bryan, Bulloch, Muscogee, Liberty, Glynn, Savannah-Chatham, Douglas, Henry counties, plus state-level produce procurement), and Florida (Hillsborough County), with secondary activity in Connecticut (Meriden Public Schools) and Missouri (Rockwood R-VI School District).

The market for produce under this code is driven by federal nutrition programs—the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program for elementary schools, the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, and Child and Adult Care Food Program—and institutional meal service for state prison systems and senior services. Vendors compete on price (typically 30–50% weighting in evaluation), product quality and compliance with food safety standards including HACCP plans and traceability, on-time weekly or twice-weekly delivery to multiple school or institutional sites, and adherence to Buy American requirements and geographic-preference or local-sourcing mandates that increasingly appear in school district RFPs. The Bartow County School System RFP 10-2026-019 (proposal due June 22, 2026) requires produce sourced within 400 miles and requires detailed seasonal availability and farm-location documentation; the Bulloch County IFP PE55612NONST2027000000031 (proposal due May 4, 2026) restricts produce to items grown within 200 miles of the district and evaluates on price (30 points), alignment with requirements (20 points), product quality and availability (30 points), and services and support (20 points). Evaluation across recent solicitations emphasizes cost competitiveness, documented product quality and shelf-life standards, compliance certifications (debarment, E-Verify, non-collusion, lobbying certifications for awards exceeding $25,000 to $100,000), insurance requirements (typically $500,000 to $2,000,000 general liability), and ability to support flexible monthly ordering with lead times as short as 1–2 weeks. Contract terms generally run 12 months (July 1 through June 30) with options for up to four additional one-year renewals by mutual agreement. Pursuit remains active: state criminal-justice systems issue frequent IFBs for bulk produce canning and food service, school districts post RFPs or RFQs in spring and early fall to align with fiscal-year procurement cycles, and local-sourcing preferences create niches for regional vendors meeting geographic and traceability requirements.