These organic practitioners are an inspiration for food and farming

A farmer creating new organic varieties to combat biodiversity loss, a city setting up food production sites where people from different backgrounds can gather, and a retailer reducing its reliance on external inputs. These are just some of this year’s finalists of the EU Organic Awards initiatives which are showcasing excellence across the supply chain. 
In this article we briefly highlight the EU Organic Awards’ finalists. The winners will be unveiled on 23 September during an award ceremony on the EU Organic Day. It is possible to watch the livestream on the European Commission’s dedicated webpage or on their social media accounts (on X or Facebook).
 
Farmers
The female farmers shortlisted for this year’s EU Organic Awards are:

• Blagovesta Vasilieva who is manager and co-owner of the Bulgarian Wild Farm, a family beef farm with 1,600 animals established 30 years ago. They have an on-farm organic slaughterhouse and processing workshop;
• Caroline Devillers who manages the Bel Go Bio, the first Belgian farm to harvest big volumes of organic sweet potatoes and garlic with large, professional storage capacity and a unique cooperative structure;
• Reinhild Frech-Emmelmann who founded the Austrian plant-breeding farm ReinSaat in 1998 with the firm conviction that organic, GMO-free seeds can sustainably improve the quality of life and nutrition of all people.

Their male counterparts are:

• Benny Schöpf, chief vegetable grower and head of cultivation at the German Kartoffelkombinat. He is coordinating the farm and cooperative, and plans, organises and implements cultivation;
• Gianpaolo Mancini, owner of Il sentiero del Riccio, a small-medium sized farm in Italy. A certified organic farm for more than 31 years (and the first one of the area), he mainly produces organic wine, olive oil, and honey;
• Tommi Hasu, who took over the Finnish family farm LuomuMattinen, dating back to the 16th century and under organic production for nearly 30 years. On an area of 630 hectares, Tommi primarily grows gluten-free organic oats, peas and canola, and raises beef cattle since 2017.

City, regions & biodistricts

The following cities are finalists for the EU Organic Award of best organic city:

• The German BioStadt Bremen has an agricultural area of around 8,300 ha within the city limits, which is farmed by just under 140 small to medium-sized family farms. It became an organic city in 2015, following a successful grassroot movement;
• The Cascais municipality in Portugal implemented a strategy to encourage the production of locally-grown organic food, promote sustainable consumption habits, provide education for sustainability, foster entrepreneurship, and enhance social inclusion;
• The Spanish municipality Las Rozas has a local Sustainable Strategy aiming to make food systems fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly which involves providing orchards to local citizens, in which they can grow their own vegetables.

2024’s shortlisted best organic regions are:

• The Portuguese Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alto Tâmega e Barroso (CIMAT), a pioneering bio-region in Portugal, composed of six municipalities working together to promote sustainable economic, social, and environmental development;
• The Spanish Comunidad autónoma de Castilla-La Mancha which promotes organic agriculture and livestock through various actions, such as subsidies to producers, promotion and communication and the synergies;
• South Savo in Finland, which has been promoting organic since the beginning of the millennium. Its systematic cooperation in the development of the organic food sector, involving businesses, administration, research, development, advisory services and education is unique.

The shortlisted biodistricts – regions or districts creating an alliance of organic farmers, rural actors, business actors and local authorities, who decide to work  together and put organic in the centre of the development model – are:

• Distretto del Cibo Monregalese-Cebano in Italy which aims to promote development based on the principles of sustainability and involving all components in line with the EU Farm to Fork strategy: natural capital, human capital, productive capital, social capital;
• Bioregião de S. Pedro do Sul in Portugal which is a district focused on aligning tourism and agriculture with health and sustainability. Known for hosting the largest thermal baths in Portugal, the region emphasises organic farming to ensure high-quality local food systems for both residents and visitors;
• Sörmland Bio-district in Sweden which encompasses two regions and 21 municipalities, with 20% of its agricultural land being organic. It supports a diverse network of organic farms, processors, retailers, and educational initiatives.

Food processing SMEs, retailers & restaurants / food services
Shortlisted businesses for the organic award of best food processing SME (Small and Medium Enterprises):

• The Austrian Biologon GmbH which specialises in organic hand-mixed muesli and traditional baked crunchies. This Tyrolean family business is dedicated to producing high-quality products from controlled organic cultivation;
• The Italian Gino Girolomoni Cooperativa Agricola manufactures and markets of organic products with pasta production at its heart. They apply the model “from seeds to your table” and their production chain is totally organic , making Girolomoni unique in Italy;
• The German Organic veggie food GmbH/SOTO organic specialities has been producing organic veggie food that is 100% organic plant-based convenience specialties. Since 1988 they are paying attention to natural ingredients without using any additives or fillers and use minimal processing.

Organic retailers selected as finalists for their innovative approaches:

• BIOGAST GmbH created “MeinBioMarkt”, an Austrian innovative shop concept that focuses exclusively on organic food in the widest possible variety and of the highest quality. The shop provides a platform for small scale organic producers with around 14,000 organic products;
• Coolanowle Organic Meats sells a vast selection of over 150 different organically certified meat cuts and products. The Irish farm’s onsite organic meat processing facility processes their meat for direct sale to its customers;
• SAiFRESC was founded by three farmers in Spain in 2011. They transitioned from conventional to organic farming, developing the agroecological model “SAiFRESC”. They sell 70 organic products, grown on 30 hectares, including citrus, fruits, herbs, and vegetables.

And last but not least, organic restaurants and food services on the list of nominations for the EU Organic Awards:

• B2 Bio pur GmbH, a German restaurant with “farm to fork” approach integrating production, distribution and consumption of organic food. Their strategy includes in-house production, regional supply chains and a local cooperative;
• Biohotel St. Daniel, a Slovenian hotel and role model for sustainability for organic farmers, producers, and restaurants that applies the core values of organic and fair trade practices. Their want to achieve 100% organic, sustainable, and fair-trade practices in a tourism business;
• Kalf & Hansen have organic and sustainability principles are at the heart of their business. They purchase exclusively organic, seasonal products, prioritising local sources whenever possible and believe everyone should have access to affordable organic meals. They are one of the few players in the Swedish food system to offer a fully organic menu.

About the EU Organic Awards

The annual European Organic Awards reward excellent and innovative actors in the organic value chain. The EU Organic Awards are jointly organised by the European Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Committee of the Regions, COPA-COGECA and IFOAM Organics Europe, with support of the European Parliament and of the Council. The awards ceremony takes place on the official EU Organic Day.