The European Organic Food Innovation Award – a new pitching contest that aims to recognise innovation and fresh thinking by organic businesses – is accepting entries until 10 September.
The initiative is organised by the Finnish Organic Food Association Pro Luomu. The contest final will be part of the Organic Food Day event, to be held in the Finlandia Hall in Helsinki in October.
The goal of the contest is to inspire companies in the food industry to develop organic products that combine organic quality with other trendy characteristics. The contest encourages companies to introduce to the market organic products with strong consumer appeal, based on original, new concepts.
In addition to the actual product, contest entries may include a service, technology or process that is linked to the production or distribution of a certified organic product. The language of the contest is English.
The pitching contest is open to companies based in EEA countries whose innovative product has not been commercially available prior to January 2018.
The Finnish Organic Food Association organizes the European Organic Food Innovation Award pitching contest in cooperation with the Founder Institute as well as S Group and K Group, the largest Finnish grocery chains, among others.
Entries to the European Organic Food Innovation Award contest will be accepted up until 10th of September.
The finalists will be selected based on their contest entry videos viewable on YouTube or Vimeo, for example, and the finalists will be announced on 16 September 2019. Each finalist company will present their innovations in a three-minute public pitch to be delivered in the Organic Food Day event on 2 October 2019.
The judging criteria are novelty value, innovation and creativity. The judges will also pay attention to the business opportunities and environmental and health impact of the innovations. Impact on consumer behaviour will also be assessed.
The Organic Food Day is a seminar directed at food industry professionals and experts. The Finnish Organic Food Association has been organizing the event since 2014. This year, the seminar will be held in the Finlandia Hall in Helsinki on 2 October. The theme of the seminar is innovations and the future.
To enter the contest, click here.