The #EUOrganic Awards, which will be presented for the third time this year, will honour the best and most innovative participants in a total of 7 categories, including “Best Organic City”, “Best Organic Restaurant”, “Best Organic Region” and others. For each of the eight categories of the competition, three projects have been selected, with a total of 24 finalists from 11 EU Member States. The winners of the eight awards will be announced at the official ceremony in Brussels on 23 September 2024 as part of a series of events and activities to mark the annual EU Organic Day.

Bulgaria is among the finalists in the European Organic Awards 2024

Blagovesta Vasileva from Divata Ferma (The Wild Farm) in the village of Gorno Pole, Eastern Rhodopes, has been nominated in the category “Best Organic Farmer (Female)”. The family farm was established 30 years ago and today is home to 2 000 head of cattle, raised on pastures in Natura 2000 protected areas. It houses the only organic slaughterhouse with a meat processing facility in Bulgaria, built with EU co-financing, where 30 certified organic products are produced. “The Wild Farm” uses solar energy, helps maintain the second-largest vulture population in Europe and breathes new life into the depopulated rural border region with Greece. Betty welcomes visitors from all over the world, and the village is attracting an increasing number of new settlers.

Caroline Divilier from Bel Go Bio, based in the province of Liège, Belgium, is an organic farmer. She manages the Bel Go Bio cooperative, the first in the country to engage in the industrial cultivation of organic sweet potatoes and garlic. Bel Go Bio has storage capacity for its produce and a well-structured and well-managed agricultural association organisation. The entire supply chain is represented in Bel Go Bio, proving that organic, local and high-quality vegetables can have significant capacity both on the market and within the successful national supply system. The farm is converting to organic production by introducing more environmentally friendly agronomic techniques and applying in-depth knowledge of the crops grown.

In the category “Best-Organic Farmer-Female“ this year, the first prize was awarded to Reinhilde Frech-Emelmann, founder and lead breeder at ReinSaat, Austria. ReinSaat was founded in 1998 with the aim of improving the quality of life and nutrition of all people through organic products and seeds. The farm covers an area of 30 hectares and is specialised in breeding over 800 seed varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers from organic and biodynamic agriculture. Its breeding programme focuses on sustainable development, the preservation of biodiversity and the support of both professional and small-scale gardeners worldwide. The company maintains a gene bank of 1 500 varieties and has registered 142 varieties in the EU. The farm employs over 50 people from 10 nations and cooperates with farms and cooperatives in 9 countries, including Bulgarian farmers.

The competition has been held since 2022 within the framework of the Action Plan for the Development of Organic Production. Its objective is to recognise excellence along the entire organic value chain — from farmers and restaurants to small and medium-sized enterprises and organic areas. The competition increases the overall visibility of the organic value chain and enhances knowledge of organic products.

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