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 U.S. Department of Agriculture in support of domestic food assistance programs as a prime contractor exclusively under small-business set-asides (Total Small Business and Partial Small Business designations across 168 federal awards spanning 2004 to May 2026). The company operates under NAICS 311999 (All Other Miscellaneous Food Manufacturing) and PSC 8915 (Fruits and Vegetables), competing almost entirely within set-aside vehicles rather than full-and-open procurement.

Nebraska Bean's customer base is concentrated within USDA. The top five customer organizations account for 70% of awards by count, led by the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (70 awards, $32.7 million combined potential value) and the Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service Washington Office (25 awards, $43.4 million combined potential value). By dollar magnitude, the Agricultural Marketing Service Washington Office anchors 92% of combined potential value across all customers, followed by the Food and Nutrition Service. The remaining customers—the Farm Service Agency Kansas City Commodity Office, Agricultural Marketing Service Specialty Crops Program, Foreign Agricultural Service, and Bureau of Prisons Federal Correctional Complex Florence—represent smaller order volumes. Nebraska Bean holds no sub-contractor relationships; all 168 awards are prime.

The vendor's commodity portfolio spans baby lima, great northern, pinto, kidney, black turtle, garbanzo, and navy beans, plus lentils and split peas, predominantly packaged in 1-pound and 2-pound consumer formats for domestic food donation and nutrition assistance. Representative recent prime contracts include a $2.85 million definitive contract from the Agricultural Marketing Service (April 2026) for garbanzo, pinto, and black turtle beans; a $1.85 million definitive contract from the Agricultural Marketing Service (July 2025) for Great Northern beans; and a $1.65 million definitive contract from the Agricultural Marketing Service (April 2026) for garbanzo, pinto, and black turtle varieties. The company also holds two single-award and multiple-award indefinite delivery contracts with the Agricultural Marketing Service, valued at $1.83 million and $733 thousand respectively, under which it has issued delivery orders for great northern, pinto, and navy beans.

Activity has fluctuated moderately across five years: four awards in 2022, thirteen in 2023, eight in 2024, eleven in 2025, and four in 2026 (year-to-date). Combined potential value across all awards stands at $91.9 million, with $89.9 million obligated (98% execution rate). Only four awards carrying combined potential value of $3.7 million reach completion within the next twenty-four months, limiting near-term recompete exposure. The source indicates Nebraska Bean has been registered in SAM.gov since 2003 and received a USDA Rural Business Cooperative Services grant in December 2024 to support technology adoption and operational enhancement, reflecting federal recognition of the company's strategic importance in rural agricultural processing and commodity supply to federal nutrition programs.