UNSPSC 50406404: Garnet sweet potatoes

The variety of sweet potatoes known as garnet sweet potatoes

UNSPSC 50406404 Garnet sweet potatoes, a Commodity code, covers fresh sweet potato procurement by state and local government entities, particularly school nutrition programs serving students under federal child nutrition funding. The recent opportunity set shows demand concentrated in school districts and institutional food service operations purchasing fresh produce for breakfast and lunch programs, with occasional buys by state criminal justice facilities for institutional canning and food service. Work solicited under the code involves supplying fresh sweet potatoes meeting USDA Child Nutrition Reimbursable compliance, food safety certification (HACCP, GAP audit), and traceability documentation by farm of origin. Vendors must deliver weekly in refrigerated vehicles, maintain specified shelf life (typically 5–10 days minimum from delivery), and comply with Buy American Act provisions requiring domestic sourcing where applicable. School districts apply geographic preferences—sourcing within 200–400 miles of the school site or within-state—and evaluate on weighted criteria including price (typically 30–40%), product quality and availability (15–30%), seasonal/monthly variety and sourcing alignment, delivery reliability, and diverse-owned business status where applicable.

State and local issuing bodies include school districts (Madison Metropolitan, Northside Independent, Hillsborough County, Bartow County, Dougherty County, Bryan County, McAllen Independent, Austin Independent, and Savannah-Chatham), regional cooperative purchasing vehicles (GEC Buying Cooperative), Head Start child care agencies, municipal senior services programs, and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Georgia school districts—particularly those in the Atlanta Metro area and coastal regions—show the highest recent activity, with secondary concentration in Texas and Florida. Representative recent opportunities include Madison Metropolitan School District RFB 4163 (due July 29, 2026) for approximately 5,900 servings weekly of fresh fruit and vegetable snacks under the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program with 5% preference for diverse-owned vendors; Bulloch County Board of Education IFP for locally-grown produce (due May 4, 2026) sourced within 200 miles, with 24 produce items including sweet potatoes; and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice IFB IW253121 (due June 23, 2026) for sweet potatoes for canning through the TDCJ Procurement Portal. The code shows sustained activity across school fiscal years (July–June contract cycles) with contract terms typically running 12 months plus multiple optional one-year renewals.