EU Organics Awards to recognise excellence throughout value chain

In a pan-European venture, the European Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), COPA-COGECA and IFOAM Organics Europe have together launched the first ever EU organic awards. These awards will recognise excellence along the organic value chain, rewarding the best and most innovative actors in organic production in the EU. Applications will be open from 25 March until 8 June 2022.

These awards are the first example of EU-wide organic awards and are conceived as a follow-up to the Action Plan for the development of organic production, adopted by the Commission on 25 March 2021, which announced the launch of such awards to raise awareness of organic production and increase demand for organic products.

Eight awards within seven categories will be given out, including best organic farmer female, best organic farmer male, best organic region, best organic city, best organic bio-district, best organic SME, best organic food retailer and best organic restaurant. An award ceremony will be organised to announce the winners on EU organic day, 23 September 2022.

Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said: “I am proud to see the EU organic awards become a reality. We have been working hard to ensure this follows the establishment of an annual EU organic day, now every 23 September since last year. Organic production is and will play a key role in the transition to sustainable food systems, and we cannot achieve this without the various actors of the organic supply chain. These awards are a great opportunity to celebrate them while promoting examples of best practices across the EU. I look forward to hearing about these best practices, and encourage all organic actors to apply.”