UNSPSC 50580000: Non GMO fresh vegetables

Fresh vegetables that have been grown and harvested from plants certified as being Non GMO. 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 50580000 Non GMO fresh vegetables, a Family code, encompasses fresh produce sourcing for institutional food service operations, particularly school nutrition programs and state cafeteria systems. State and local governments under this code are procuring fresh fruits, vegetables, and related produce items for daily meal service, emphasizing domestic sourcing, food safety compliance (HACCP certification, GAP audit documentation, traceability systems), Buy American requirements, and adherence to USDA Child Nutrition Reimbursable standards and whole-grain specifications. School districts dominate activity in this space, with recent solicitations ranging from small rural districts serving under 20,000 students to large urban systems like Austin ISD, Northside ISD (San Antonio), and Savannah-Chatham County; state agencies and individual county school boards also regularly solicit under this code. Cooperative purchasing vehicles such as the GEC Buying Cooperative frequently consolidate multi-district procurements to aggregate volume and pricing leverage.

Recent activity concentrates heavily in Georgia and Texas, with additional solicitations posted from Florida, Missouri, and South Carolina. Representative opportunities include the Douglas County School System's GEC Buying Cooperative RFP SN 26-004 (February 2026, due March 4) for 72 line items across 30 districts with estimated annual spending of $5.5 million across two geographic areas; the Early County Board of Education's line-by-line food bid (May 2026, due June 8) for approximately 300 food items and specialty produce across three schools; Northside ISD's RFP 2026-048 (April 2026, due May 7) for USDA Child Nutrition Reimbursable-compliant fresh produce to 127 campuses with monthly price adjustment tied to USDA Specialty Crops Terminal Markets; Bulloch County School District's farm-to-school IFP (April 2026, due May 4) requiring locally grown produce within 200 miles; and McAllen ISD's RFP 2026-1029 (March 2026, due March 6) for multi-vendor awards across 31 campuses. Evaluation criteria typically weight price competitiveness (30–50 percent), product quality and availability (20–30 percent), vendor experience and qualifications (15–25 percent), and long-term cost considerations (5–10 percent), with awards often split across multiple vendors on a line-item basis. Most contracts run July 1 through June 30 with renewal options of two to four additional one-year terms.