UNSPSC 50407003: Apio

The type of vegetable known as apio

UNSPSC 50407003 Apio, a Commodity code, represents fresh fruit and vegetable snacks and fresh produce items supplied to state and local school nutrition programs, child care facilities, and institutional food service operations. State and local buyers source apples, bananas, carrots, berries, lettuce, onions, potatoes, and specialty fresh produce in bulk quantities—typically measured in cases or per-pound—for delivery to school sites, senior centers, detention facilities, and central warehouses. Recent solicitations emphasize USDA compliance, traceability by farm of origin, ready-to-eat or minimally processed formats, and geographic sourcing preferences favoring local or regional growers within specified distances (commonly 200–400 miles). Issuing bodies include independent school districts, county boards of education, school nutrition programs, head start organizations, and state agencies managing criminal justice and senior services operations. School districts dominate the activity—Madison Metropolitan School District (Wisconsin), Northside Independent School District and Austin Independent School District (Texas), Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools (Georgia), and Salt Lake City School District (Utah) are repeat buyers—alongside state-level institutional food service at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and Georgia's state procurement office. Most solicitations are RFPs, RFQs, or ITBs with response windows of two to eight weeks; contracts typically run July through June (school fiscal year) with one- to four-year renewal options.

Geographic activity concentrates in Texas, Georgia, Florida, and Utah, with secondary activity in Connecticut, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Representative recent opportunities include Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4163 for fresh fruit and vegetable snacks (bids due July 29, 2026) sourced within 400 miles of Madison under USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program funding; Head Start of Greater Dallas' IFB 26-GP for frozen and fresh produce (due date June 24, 2026) estimated at $969,460.94 across five years; Northside Independent School District's RFP 2026-048 for fresh produce delivery to 117 schools across San Antonio (due May 7, 2026); and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's IFB IW253099 for white potatoes for institutional canning (due June 23, 2026). Evaluation typically weights price (30–50 points), product quality and availability (15–30 points), vendor qualifications and experience (10–25 points), delivery reliability and compliance (10–20 points), and local or diverse-vendor preferences (5–15 points). Insurance requirements are standard—$500,000 to $2,000,000 general liability—and Buy American Act compliance is universal where applicable; set-asides for disadvantaged, minority-owned, or small businesses are not systematically enforced across the code but appear in individual district procurements (Wisconsin Supplier Diversity Program, Texas HUB preferences, Georgia E-Verify certification). Activity is robust and year-round, with the highest volume of RFP and ITB postings in March through June as districts prepare for July 1 contract commencement.