UNSPSC 50586818: Non GMO chickpeas

The variety of Non GMO vegetable known as Non GMO chickpeas. 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 50586818 Non GMO chickpeas is a Commodity code that nominally describes a single produce item, but the recent state and local solicitations tagged under this code show no direct procurement activity for chickpeas themselves. Instead, the code has been applied to broad fresh produce and food service supply contracts across school nutrition, institutional food service, and child nutrition programs. The work being solicited is the sourcing, warehousing, and delivery of diverse fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and prepared produce items to school districts, county education systems, and transit authorities across multiple states. Issuing bodies are primarily school districts and county boards of education, with a small number of state departments of education also using the code. Repeat buyers include Georgia school districts (Glynn County, Liberty County, Bulloch County, Savannah-Chatham, Muscogee County, and the state's GEC Buying Cooperative); Texas school districts (Austin Independent School District, Northside Independent School District near San Antonio, and McAllen Independent School District); Florida school districts (Hillsborough County Public Schools); and Missouri school districts (Rockwood R-VI). These are predominantly multi-location procurements serving 6,900 to 31,000 students, with contracts requiring weekly or twice-weekly delivery, HACCP certification, Buy American compliance, and strict food safety documentation.

Recent activity spans Georgia, Texas, Florida, and Missouri, with the heaviest concentration in Georgia school nutrition programs. Representative solicitations include the Bulloch County School District's Invitation for Proposal (due May 4, 2026) for locally-grown produce within 200 miles supporting a Farm to School program across 11,200 students; Early County Board of Education's line-by-line RFP (due June 8, 2026) for approximately 300 food items plus 60 non-food supplies across three schools with strict domestic sourcing and nutrition preferences; Northside Independent School District's RFP (due May 7, 2026) for fresh produce to 47 campuses across San Antonio with USDA Child Nutrition Reimbursable compliance and Texas-grown prioritization; and the Douglas County School System's RFP through the GEC Buying Cooperative (due March 4, 2026) serving 30 school districts across two Georgia regions with estimated annual spending of $4.4 million and $1.1 million respectively. The code appears misapplied to these broad institutional food service contracts; firms pursuing activity at this tier should expect school nutrition and child lunch program tenders requiring commercial produce distribution capability, multi-location logistics, compliance certifications, and competitive pricing against USDA market indexes rather than specialty commodity procurement.