UNSPSC 50407028: Gailon

The type of vegetable known as gailon

UNSPSC 50407028 Gailon — a Commodity code — covers fresh fruit and vegetable snacks procured by state and local government for school nutrition programs, child care operations, and institutional food service. State and local buyers in this space are sourcing ready-to-eat, pre-packaged fresh produce — often with traceability and farm-of-origin documentation — for federal child nutrition reimbursable meal programs and federal grant-funded initiatives such as the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Issuing bodies span school districts (large urban districts, county systems, and independent districts), child care networks (Head Start agencies), state departments of criminal justice operating institutional kitchens, and cooperative purchasing consortia aggregating demand across multiple school districts. The work emphasizes compliance with USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and National School Lunch Program (NSLP) standards, federal Buy American provisions, HACCP food safety certification, farm traceability, temperature-controlled logistics, and sustainable sourcing — particularly local and regional produce within specified mileage radii (commonly 200–400 miles). Many opportunities weight cost evaluation at 30–50% but also score heavily on product quality, vendor reliability, farm origin documentation, and local-sourcing preferences; some include organic premium pricing or geographic preference discounts.

Recent activity concentrates heavily in Georgia and Texas. Madison Metropolitan School District (Wisconsin) issued RFB 4163 due July 29, 2026, for approximately 5,900 weekly servings of fresh fruit and vegetable snacks under the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, with sourcing required within 400 miles and Wisconsin, plus a 5% diverse-owned business preference and a $0.20-per-pound organic discount. Head Start of Greater Dallas, Inc. (Texas) solicited IFB 26-GP due June 24, 2026, for approximately 32,409 cases of frozen foods, produce, and meat products across a primary, secondary, and tertiary vendor structure, valued at $969,460.94 and funded through federal Head Start appropriations. Georgia school districts dominate the recent pipeline: Bartow County Schools (Georgia), Dougherty County Board of Education, Bryan County Schools, Glynn County Board of Education, and Bulloch County Schools each issued fresh produce RFPs or IFBs in March–May 2026 with response dates between April and June 2026, typically covering 2026–2027 school years and requiring local sourcing within 200–400 miles. Texas Department of Criminal Justice issued multiple bulk-vegetable IFBs (carrots, sweet potatoes, white potatoes) due in late June 2026, and large urban districts including Northside Independent School District (San Antonio), Austin Independent School District, and McAllen Independent School District each solicited fresh produce RFPs with contracts valued in the low millions and responses due March–May 2026. Meriden Public Schools (Connecticut) procured commercial groceries and produce valued at approximately $3.1 million for 2026–2027 with response due February 25, 2026. Set-asides and preferences vary by issuing body — some emphasize small and minority-owned business encouragement under federal funding rules; Texas procurements include service-disabled veteran and Texas-vendor preferences under state rules; several Georgia school districts apply organic pricing premiums or local-sourcing scoring weights. No single vendor dominates the recent opportunities; competition is open and highly decentralized across jurisdictions and seasons.