UNSPSC 50524400: Non GMO mandarin oranges or non GMO tangerines

The type of non GMO fruit known as non GMO mandarin oranges and tangerines. This means that they are produced without the use of methods that genetically modify organisms by means that are not possible under natural conditions. Such methods include cell fusion, microencapsulation and macro-encapsulation, and recombinant DNA technology (including gene deletion, gene doubling, introducing a foreign gene, and changing the positions of genes when achieved by recombinant DNA technology).

Traditional methods of breeding, conjugation, fermentation, hybridization, in vitro fertilization, or tissue culture are considered to be non-GMO.

UNSPSC 50524400 Non GMO mandarin oranges or non GMO tangerines is a Class code that encompasses fresh citrus fruit procurement for institutional food service, though recent state and local opportunities tagged under this code show limited activity specifically for the named commodity — the recent record set instead captures broader fresh produce procurement spanning multiple fruit and vegetable categories in school nutrition programs and institutional cafeterias. State and local buyers under codes in this family include school districts (Madison Metropolitan School District in Wisconsin, Hancock County Board of Education and multiple Georgia county systems including Bulloch, Glynn, Liberty, Muscogee, Savannah-Chatham, Douglas, and Early County), independent school districts (McAllen and Austin in Texas), and state procurement offices (Georgia Department of Administrative Services). School nutrition programs dominate the issuing-body mix, with individual districts or multi-district cooperative purchasing vehicles soliciting annual contracts to supply fresh produce across dozens of school sites. Representative recent opportunities include Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4162 for petite bananas (posted July 8, 2026, due July 29, 2026) at an estimated $78,000 annual contract value, Hancock County Board of Education's IFB for fresh produce spanning over 200 line items including apples, berries, cruciferous vegetables, citrus, and specialty items (posted June 10, 2026, due June 26, 2026), and the Douglas County School System's RFP SN 26-004 through the GEC Buying Cooperative for 30 districts across two Georgia regions with estimated annual spending of $4.4 million for Area One and $1.1 million for Area Two (posted February 4, 2026, due March 4, 2026).

Recent activity concentrates heavily in Georgia and Texas, with secondary activity in Wisconsin and other states. Georgia school districts (Hancock, Bulloch, Liberty, Muscogee, Savannah-Chatham, Glynn, and Douglas counties) represent the bulk of recent postings from the second and third quarters of 2026. Texas independent school districts (McAllen and Austin) issued RFPs in late February and early March 2026. Solicitations uniformly require compliance with Buy American provisions mandating domestic commodity content of 51 percent or greater for processed products, HACCP plans with 24/7 recall accessibility, general liability insurance (typically $1 million minimum), and delivery within narrow time windows (commonly early morning 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. or 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday). Many awards default to lowest responsive and responsible bid calculated on line-item basis, permitting multiple vendor selection. School districts increasingly emphasize local or regional sourcing (within 200–400 miles) and organic or non-GMO preferences, though these are weighted as preference criteria rather than mandatory specifications. Notable cooperative purchasing vehicles include the GEC Buying Cooperative (Georgia), and school districts frequently permit piggybacking by neighboring districts on identical contract terms. Price-adjustment mechanisms typically cap increases at 3 percent or require verification through USDA Agricultural Marketing Service reports and Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index data.