UNSPSC 50406418: Red mar sweet potatoes

The variety of sweet potatoes known as red mar sweet potatoes

UNSPSC 50406418 Red mar sweet potatoes is a Commodity code that captures institutional fresh-produce procurement, primarily through school nutrition programs and correctional food services that source sweet potatoes—whole, bulk, or ready-to-serve—for child nutrition reimbursable meals, senior services, and inmate meal operations. State and local governments soliciting under this code include school districts (elementary through high-school systems), county and independent school districts, state correctional departments, and occasionally special-purpose food-service entities such as Head Start programs and city senior services departments. The recent activity shows a mix of IFBs (Invitations for Bid) and RFPs for mixed-produce bundles that include sweet potatoes alongside other vegetables and fruits, with responses typically due within 30 to 60 days of posting and contract terms running one school or fiscal year with options to renew annually up to three or five years.

Texas and Georgia account for the bulk of recent solicitation activity, driven primarily by Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) correctional food service procurement and Georgia school districts across multiple counties (Bulloch, Glynn, Liberty, Muscogee, Dougherty, Savannah-Chatham, Henry, Bryan, Douglas, and Early County systems). Representative recent opportunities include the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Invitation for Bid IW253121 (sweet potatoes for canning, bids due June 23, 2026), the Bulloch County School District RFP for locally grown produce including sweet potatoes (proposals due May 4, 2026, emphasizing sourcing within 200 miles), and the Bartow County School System RFP 10-2026-019 for local fresh fruits and vegetables with sweet potatoes as a component (proposal due June 22, 2026, requiring 400-mile sourcing radius). School nutrition programs across Texas, Florida, Georgia, and other states regularly bundle sweet potatoes with other fresh produce in annual solicitations weighted heavily on cost (typically 30–50% of evaluation criteria), with secondary emphasis on product quality, delivery reliability, and compliance with USDA Child Nutrition Reimbursable requirements and Buy American provisions. Institutional buyers typically mandate firm pricing for 90 days to one year, require HACCP plans and food-safety documentation, and enforce weekly or twice-weekly deliveries to multiple school or facility sites with FOB destination or F.O.B. delivery-included pricing structures.