UNSPSC 50582706: Non GMO giant red celery

The variety of Non GMO celery known as Non GMO giant red celery. 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 50582706 Non GMO giant red celery (Commodity) does not align with recent state and local procurement activity. The code nominally describes a single produce item—non-GMO giant red celery—yet the recent solicitations tagged under this code are broad institutional food service procurements spanning hundreds of produce line items, grocery goods, and food-service supplies with no specific emphasis on celery, non-GMO attributes, or varietal specifications. The State of Georgia, Early County Schools, Northside Independent School District in Texas, Hillsborough County Public Schools in Florida, and multiple Georgia school districts (Bulloch County, Liberty County, Muscogee County, Savannah-Chatham, and Glynn County) have all posted fresh produce and food-service RFPs, IFBs, and RFQs since early February 2026, but celery appears only incidentally in broad vegetable lists—never as a targeted procurement category. The mismatch between the Commodity code's narrow scope and the wide-ranging institutional food procurement activity suggests either data-entry error in the original tagging or a classification that no longer reflects how these jurisdictions structure solicitations.

State and local buyers are pursuing fresh produce contracts through school nutrition programs and institutional food service operations, typically on annual cycles with July 1 start dates. Recent representative opportunities include Early County Board of Education's RFP for line-by-line food bids (due June 8, 2026), Northside Independent School District's RFP 2026-048 for fresh produce serving 127 schools across San Antonio (due May 7, 2026), Hillsborough County Public Schools' federally funded Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program contract for elementary schools (due March 11, 2026, estimated annual budget $600,000), and Douglas County School System's cooperative RFP through GEC Buying Cooperative covering 30 Georgia school districts with estimated annual spend of $5.5 million (due March 4, 2026). Georgia, Texas, and Florida school districts represent the dominant recent activity; Missouri (Rockwood R-VI) also posted a large grocery procurement in March 2026. These are institutional food-service contracts emphasizing HACCP compliance, Buy American requirements, USDA standards, and line-item competitive bidding. The Commodity code should not be used to characterize this activity; the relevant classification lies in broader Family or Class codes covering produce and institutional food procurement.