UNSPSC 50596803: Dried Non GMO apio

The variety of Non GMO vegetable known as Non GMO apio that has been dried for preservation. 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 50596803 Dried Non GMO apio is a Commodity code that covers dried celery products for institutional food service, though recent state and local solicitations show minimal activity directly aligned with this narrow specification. The code appears in the context of school nutrition programs, senior meal services, and institutional food procurement where dried vegetables function as minor components within comprehensive grocery or food supply contracts rather than as standalone line items. State and local issuing bodies pursuing this code span school districts, county boards of education, city purchasing departments on behalf of school systems, and county commissioners, with activity concentrated in Georgia, Connecticut, Florida, Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia. School districts dominate the buyer base, particularly large systems such as Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, Savannah-Chatham County Public School System in Georgia, Meriden Public Schools in Connecticut, and Douglas County School System in Georgia, which regularly solicit comprehensive food supply contracts that may include dried vegetables as ancillary items.

Recent representative opportunities show that dried non-GMO celery typically appears as one line item within much larger grocery or fresh produce solicitations rather than as a standalone procurement. The City of Bridgeport Department of Public Purchases issued IFB BNB052266 for over 1,100 grocery line items on behalf of the Bridgeport Board of Education's Food & Nutrition Services Department, with electronic bids due June 30, 2026, covering breakfast items, vegetables, fruits, and condiments subject to Buy American (51% domestic content) and Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act nutrition standards. The Douglas County School System in Georgia issued RFP SN 26-003 for comprehensive food supply and distribution services on January 21, 2026, with sealed proposals due February 18, 2026, seeking delivery of approximately 32,000 meals daily across 32 schools with an estimated annual spend of approximately $9,000,000. The Bulloch County Board of Education in Georgia issued IFB #043025 on April 3, 2026, for school nutrition groceries across multiple categories including vegetables and spices, with bids due May 4, 2026, covering 14 designated school delivery sites. Activity is most recent and concentrated in Georgia school district procurements through cooperative purchasing vehicles such as the GEC Buying Cooperative, with secondary activity in Florida and Connecticut, though none of these recent solicitations isolates dried celery as a distinct specification or line-item focus—the code appears to function primarily as a taxonomic reference for commodities embedded in larger institutional meal-service contracts.