UNSPSC 50527000: Nominant non GMO fruits

The type of fruits that belong to no other class and have no other non GMO fruit commodities related to them. 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 50527000 Nominant non-GMO fruits, a Class code, covers fresh fruit procurement by state and local education agencies—primarily school districts purchasing produce for child nutrition programs, including regular school meals and federally funded initiatives like the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. State and local governments buying under this code solicit specific fruit varieties in bulk case quantities with exacting ripeness, size, and freshness standards, alongside quality-control measures such as HACCP plans, traceability documentation, food-safety certifications, and recall procedures. Issuing bodies are predominantly school districts of varying size—from large unified districts serving 20,000+ students (McAllen ISD, Austin ISD, Hillsborough County Public Schools) to medium and small rural districts (Early County, Liberty County, Glynn County in Georgia; Madison Metropolitan in Wisconsin)—often pooling demand through cooperative purchasing vehicles such as the GEC Buying Cooperative to aggregate volume across multiple districts. School nutrition programs dominate the code's activity; no state departments, counties, or transit authorities appear in the recent solicitation stream. Representative recent opportunities include Madison Metropolitan School District's RFB 4162 for petite bananas (bids due July 29, 2026, estimated annual value $78,000) specifying 150-count cases in narrow ripeness windows and delivery to a single food production center, and Hillsborough County Public Schools' RFP 26039RFPDST for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program specialty fruits (proposals due March 11, 2026, estimated annual budget $600,000) targeting approximately 18 elementary schools with pre-cut, pre-packaged produce in 50-unit cases.

Geographic activity clusters heavily in Georgia and Texas, with substantial secondary activity in Wisconsin and Florida. Georgia school districts—Douglas County, Liberty County, Glynn County, Hancock County, Bulloch County, Muscogee County, Savannah-Chatham County—collectively represent the densest concentration of solicitations in the recent opportunities block; Texas districts (McAllen ISD, Austin ISD) and Florida (Hillsborough County) show significant institutional demand. Solicitation notice types are predominantly RFB (Request for Bid) and IFB (Invitation for Bid) for annual fixed-price contracts with firm pricing for 12 months, though some districts use RFP (Request for Proposal) for cost-plus or vendor-selection flexibility. Typical contract periods run July 1 through June 30 of the following year to align with school fiscal calendars, with renewal options for one to four additional years. Buy American requirements, domestic-commodity preferences, and whole-grain mandates appear consistently; several districts offer geographic preference bonuses for locally grown produce (within 200–400 miles) and weight evaluation points toward diverse-owned business certifications. Awards typically go to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder on a line-item basis, permitting multiple vendors per district. No set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises appear in the recent opportunities, though districts encourage SBE and MBE participation through evaluation scoring and affirmative contracting language tied to federal nutrition-program compliance.