Nebraska Bean, Inc.

Nebraska Bean, Inc., a for-profit small business based in Clearwater, Nebraska, supplies processed and packaged dry edible beans, lentils, and legumes to the Department of Agriculture as a prime contractor under predominantly small-business set-asides. The vendor has secured over 170 federal awards since 2004, with recent work anchored to USDA domestic food assistance and commodity donation programs. All work is performed as prime contractor; Nebraska Bean does not subcontract or appear as a sub-recipient.

Nebraska Bean's capability footprint is narrow and specialized: processing, packaging, and delivering commodity-grade dry beans in multiple configurations (1-pound and 2-pound packages, 50-kilogram bulk bags) for USDA food donation programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, National School Lunch Program, and broader domestic nutrition assistance. Representative recent contracts include a $6.06 million partial small-business-set-aside definitive contract awarded by USDA Agricultural Marketing Service on September 24, 2026, for garbanzo, split pea, pinto, black turtle beans, and lentils; a $1.85 million total small-business-set-aside award from USDA Agricultural Marketing Service on July 15, 2025, for Great Northern beans; and a $1.05 million partial small-business-set-aside contract from USDA Food and Nutrition Service on August 14, 2026, for mixed dry bean and lentil commodities. Pricing across all work is firm fixed price. Place of performance is exclusively Clearwater, Nebraska.

Customer concentration sits almost entirely with USDA. The top five customer offices account for 70% of total awards by count and 93% of combined potential value. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Washington Office leads by dollar value at 26 awards and $49.4 million combined potential value, while USDA Food and Nutrition Service leads by award count at 71 awards worth $33.8 million combined potential value. A small volume of awards (9 total, $1.8 million combined potential value) routes through USDA Farm Service Agency Kansas City Commodity Office, and one isolated customer — Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons Federal Correctional Complex Florence — holds 5 awards worth $83 thousand. No other federal agencies appear in the footprint.

Activity by year shows volatility rather than growth: four awards in 2022, thirteen in 2023, eight in 2024, eleven in 2025, and six in 2026 year-to-date. Combined obligated dollars total $97 million across 170 awards, representing 98% of combined potential value. The primary parent vehicles are two USDA Agricultural Marketing Service indefinite delivery contracts: one single-award IDC valued at $1.8 million (active through December 2023) and one multiple-award IDC valued at $733 thousand (active through June 2023). Nebraska Bean holds seats on both and has drawn delivery orders against each. Four awards with ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $7.8 million and will face recompete.

Set-aside posture is consistently small-business-focused. Of the 170 awards, the majority are designated total small-business set-asides; a secondary group falls under partial small-business set-asides; and a small minority (approximately eight to ten awards) carry no set-aside designation. NAICS 311999 (All Other Miscellaneous Food Manufacturing) dominates the portfolio at 82 awards, with secondary concentration in NAICS 424400 (Grain and Field Bean Merchant Wholesalers) at 35 awards and NAICS 311411 (Frozen Fruit, Juice, and Vegetable Manufacturing) at 14 awards. PSC code 8915 (Fruits and Vegetables) accounts for 158 of 170 awards. In December 2024, Nebraska Bean secured federal grant funding from USDA Rural Business Cooperative Services under the REAP IRA Underutilized Resources Technology program (ultimate completion December 16, 2026) to support technology adoption and operational enhancement, signaling federal recognition of the vendor's strategic role in rural agricultural processing and food-security supply chain resilience.