24 finalists highlight excellent examples of EU organic from field to fork
Read this news item in German (by BioPress), Spanish & Catalan (by Bio Eco Actual).
BRUSSELS, 19 JULY 2024 – Today the EU Commission revealed the finalists of the 2024 EU Organic Awards, the EU-wide yearly initiative recognising organic actors who have developed excellent, innovative and inspiring projects that advance organic food and farming. 24 finalists from 12 EU countries were selected across 8 different categories – We congratulate them for their outstanding projects and for making it so far in the selection process!
The winners will be unveiled at the official ceremony in Brussels on 23 September, as part of a series of events and activities celebrating the annual EU Organic Day. Officially launched in 2021 by the European Parliament, the Commission, and the Council of the European Union, this day represents the occasion to celebrate organic as a model to follow and an opportunity to evaluate Europe’s progress towards achieving its goal of 25% organic land by 2030, trends in consumer demand, awareness of organic in the supply chain and the implementation of the EU Organic Action Plan.
This year’s finalists of the EU Organic Awards in each category are:
Best organic farmer (female)
- Blagovesta Vasilieva, The wild farm , Gorno Pole, Eastern Rhodopes, Bulgaria
- Caroline Devillers, Bel Go Bio, Hollogne-sur-Geer, province of Liège, Belgique
- Reinhild Frech-Emmelmann, Reinsaat GmbH, St. Leonhard am Hornerwald, Lower Austria, Austria
Best organic farmer (male)
- Gianpaolo Mancini, Il sentiero del Riccio, Sicignano degli Alburni, Salerno, Italy
- Tommi Hasu, LuomuMattinen, Oravala, Kouvola, Finland
- Benny Schöpf, Kartoffelkombinat, München, Bavaria, Germany
Best organic region
- Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alto Tâmega e Barroso, Chaves, Portugal
- Comunidad autónoma de Castilla – La Mancha, Spain
- South Savo, Finland
Best organic city
- BioStadt Bremen, Germany
- Cascais, Lisbon district, Portugal
- Las Rozas, Community of Madrid, Spain
Best organic “bio-district”
- Distretto del Cibo Monregalese-Cebano, Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy
- Bioregião de S. Pedro do Sul, Viseu district, Beira alta, Portugal
- Sörmland Bio-district, Sörmland, Sweden
Best organic food processing SME (Small and Medium Enterprises)
- Biologon GmbH, Hochfilzen, Tyrol, Austria
- Gino Girolomoni Cooperativa Agricola, Isola del Piano, Montebello, Marche, Italy
- Organic veggie food GmbH/SOTO organic specialities, Bad Endorf, Bavaria, Germany
Best organic food retailer
- BIOGAST GmbH, Zwettl, Lower Austria, Austria
- Coolanowle Organic Meats, Ballickmoyler, County Laois, Ireland
- SAiFRESC, Catarroja, Valencian Community, Spain
Best organic restaurant/food service
- B2 Bio pur GmbH, Binsdorf, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Biohotel St. Daniel, Štanjel, Primórska region, Slovenia
- Kalf & Hansen, Stockholm, Sweden
We wish them best of luck and look forward to getting to know them better in the weeks ahead of the awards ceremony.
Ends.
Contact details
Eva Berckmans, Communications Manager
+32 2 416 27 62, eva.berckmans@organicseurope.bio
or visit www.organicseurope.bio
About the EU Organic Awards
The annual European Organic Awards reward excellent and innovative actors in the organic value chain. They are jointly organised by the European Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Committee of the Regions, IFOAM Organics Europe and COPA-COGECA, with support of the European Parliament and of the Council. The awards ceremony will take place on 23 September, the official EU Organic Day.
This year marks the awards’ third edition dedicated to honouring innovative, sustainable, and outstanding projects across seven categories and eight individual awards. Finalists of the EU Organic Awards get a platform to present their projects to a wider audience, showing how organic continues to innovate the supply chain.
The jury will select the winners of the EU Organic Awards based on horizontal award criteria and consists of representatives from the organisers alongside representatives from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. Further information about the candidates, selection criteria, and the awards is available on the EU Organic Awards webpage.
The EU Organic Awards were launched in 2022 as commitment of the Action Plan for the Development of Organic Production. The awards recognise excellence across the organic value chain, enhance organic’s visibility and increase the EU organic logo’s visibility. This year marks the third edition of the Awards, featuring seven categories and eight individual awards. The Awards aim to honour projects that are outstanding, innovative, sustainable, and inspiring, adding real value to organic production and consumption. Winners have the chance to present their projects to a wider audience, showing best practices.
Do you know of any projects that would be fit to apply for the next edition of the EU Organic Awards? Documents with practical guidelines are available in all official EU languages. For more information about the previous winners of EU Organic Awards:
- Articles about past EU Organic Awards winners on our website,
- On social media using #EUOrganic,
- 2023: Videos winners #EUOrganic Awards 2023 and our article,
- 2022: Videos winners #EUOrganic Awards 2022, and our article.
Further information about the candidates, the selection criteria, and the awards in general can be found on the on the EU Organic Awards webpage.
About EU Organic Day
On 23 September 2024 Europe will also celebrate its 4th EU Organic Day! This day is organic’s day to shine. Besides the EU Organic Awards ceremony in Brussels, organic becomes more visible at many events – in person, online and according to the organisers’ own flavours.
So, we want to ask: what are your plans for this year’s 23 September?
We call on you to get visible, celebrate organic on this day and raise awareness of organic and its many benefits to people, planet & economy. Share your initiatives with us through the dedicated form, we will help promoting them through our website’s map and by sharing them on social media. Need some inspiration? Curious to see what kind of initiatives took place last year? Visit the EU organic day page on our website!
Officially launched in 2021 by the European Parliament, the Commission, and the Council of the European Union, this day represents the occasion to, among others, assess trends in consumer demands, continue raising awareness of organic in the supply chain and finally, define new targets for the future of organic in Europe. Every year, many of our members celebrate organic – in person, online and according to their own flavours. So, we want to ask: what are your plans for this year’s 23 September
IFOAM Organics Europe is the European umbrella organisation for organic food and farming. With almost 200 members in 34 European countries, our work spans the entire organic food chain and beyond: from farmers and processors organisations, retailers, certifiers, consultants, traders, and researchers to environmental and consumer advocacy bodies.
c13">The work of IFOAM Organics Europe on this topic is co-financed by the LIFE programme of the European Union, under the Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).
