UNSPSC 50425807: Dried kelp

The variety of sea vegetables known as kelp that has been dried for preservation.

UNSPSC 50425807 Dried kelp (Commodity) shows a significant mismatch between its nominal scope and the work actually being solicited under it. The recent opportunities tagged with this code procure dried beans — kidney beans, black beans, and pinto and red beans — for institutional food service across state correctional facilities, child care programs, and educational institutions, not kelp or seaweed products. State and local governments buying under this code are purchasing bulk dried legumes for high-volume meal preparation in correctional kitchens, school food programs, and state agency cafeterias, typically in quantities ranging from hundreds of bags to tens of thousands of pounds, delivered on FOB or all-inclusive terms to central distribution points or meal-service sites.

Issuing bodies include state corrections departments (Oregon Department of Corrections, Georgia Correctional Industries, Texas Department of Criminal Justice), state purchasing offices (Georgia, Oregon, Illinois), and municipal food-service operators (City of Edinburg, Texas, through a Boys & Girls Club CACFP program). Geographic activity centers on the South and West — Georgia, Texas, and Oregon account for all named recent opportunities — with Oregon and Texas showing repeat procurement activity for dried beans in the June through October 2026 timeframe. Representative recent solicitations include the Oregon Department of Corrections' June 2026 IFB for approximately 42,500 pounds of dried pinto and red beans (due June 19, 2026), which applied a combined 10% evaluation preference for Oregon-fabricated and Oregon-headquartered bidders and referenced an incumbent contract at $0.493 per pound; Georgia Correctional Industries' October 2026 RFQ for kidney beans in 880-bag increments (due October 9, 2026); and the City of Edinburg's August 2026 RFP for CACFP meal-program supplies serving 400 children daily, which included dried beans among multiple food categories and weighted cost at 30% of evaluation. The code appears to be a taxonomy error — recent state and local procurement activity under this number targets dried legumes, not kelp.