UNSPSC 50406203: Giant winter spinach

The variety of spinach known as giant winter spinach

UNSPSC 50406203 Giant winter spinach is a Commodity code that names a single produce item—fresh spinach, typically winter varieties—that state and local governments buy primarily through school nutrition programs, child care food service operations, and institutional food procurement. Based on recent solicitations, this code captures what school districts and other child nutrition entities are actually sourcing: packaged fresh produce delivered in ready-to-eat or processing-ready form, meeting USDA meal program compliance and food safety standards. The issuing-body mix is dominated by school districts—Madison Metropolitan School District, Bartow County Schools, Dougherty County Board of Education, Bulloch County Schools, and many others across Georgia and other states—alongside Head Start programs, Department of Criminal Justice food service operations, and municipal senior services. School nutrition contracts form the core of activity under this code, with districts soliciting fresh vegetables as line items in larger produce or grocery procurements that also cover fruits, proteins, and prepared foods. The scope of work emphasizes delivery logistics: districts require weekly or twice-weekly deliveries to multiple school sites, temperature-controlled transport, traceability documentation by farm of origin, liability insurance (typically $500,000 to $2,000,000 per occurrence), and compliance with Buy American provisions favoring domestic agricultural products.

Geographic concentration is heavy in Georgia and Texas, where school nutrition programs issue regular procurement cycles aligned with fiscal years running July 1 through June 30. Representative recent opportunities include the Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4163 (posted July 8, 2026, due July 29, 2026) for Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Snacks serving approximately 5,900 servings weekly to elementary students under USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program funding, with sourcing required within 400 miles of Madison and Wisconsin, and the Bartow County School System's RFP 10-2026-019 (posted May 21, 2026, due June 22, 2026) for local fresh fruits and vegetables sourced within 400 miles, with contract term July 20, 2026 through June 30, 2027 and four optional one-year renewals. The Dougherty County Board of Education's sealed bid (posted May 19, 2026, due June 16, 2026) covers 40 produce line items with estimated yearly usage of 25 to 1,200 units per item across 24 school nutrition sites. Texas Department of Criminal Justice operations, including IFBs for carrots, sweet potatoes, and white potatoes (posted March and June 2026), also drive activity under the broader code's parent Family, though specific winter spinach solicitations do not appear in the recent block. Evaluation criteria consistently weight cost heavily (30–40 percent), geographic preference (10–15 percent when local sourcing is required), product quality (15–25 percent), and vendor qualifications and compliance, with awards often going to single or multiple vendors on a line-item basis to enable competitive sourcing across produce categories.