On 25 September, the EESC announced its winners in the three categories of the EU Organic Awards: Best organic food processing SME, Best organic food retailer and Best organic restaurant.

For the second year running, this event was organised together with the European Commission and other partners to reward excellence along the European organic value chain. The winners of all categories took part in a special ceremony held at the European Commission and hosted by the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski.

EESC president Oliver Röpke said: "The EESC has been advocating for years for a more sustainable and inclusive food policy in the EU. I am proud that we are part of this great initiative bringing quality food closer to everyday consumers and covering all the steps of the agri-food chain. I would like to congratulate the winners of this year's EU Organic Awards and thank them for sharing their inspiring projects with us".

The winners are:

Best organic food processing SME: the Merry Mill, Vicarstown, Ireland

The Merry Mill is a family-run organic farm that produces a range of organic gluten-free foods in Ireland. Their mission is to provide high quality products that not only feed the body and nourish the soul but are sustainable, amazingly tasty and, best of all, have no negative impact on the environment.

Best organic food retailer: Gut Wulksfelde (Bioland), Tangstedt, Germany

Gut Wulksfelde (Bioland) has a 600 m² farm shop in which they sell the produce from their organic farm. They farm 450 hectares of land with over 50 varieties of vegetables. They also process meat, produce eggs and run a bakery that bakes bread for the farm shop.

Best organic restaurant/food service: Restaurant Luftburg  Kolarik im Prater GmbH, Vienna, Austria

Since 2021, Luftburg  Kolarik has been the largest fully certified organic restaurant in the world, with 1200 seats. The restaurant was founded in 1992 with ecological and social sustainability at the heart of their philosophy. (ks)