The EU organic awards are an opportunity to recognise the work of various actors along the organic value chain that has developed an excellent, innovative, sustainable, and inspiring project producing real added value for organic production and consumption.On 19 July 2024, the finalists for the third edition of the awards were announced for each category.The finalistsBest organic farmer (female) and Best organic farmer (male)Best organic regionBest organic cityBest organic "bio-district"Best organic food processing SMEBest organic food retailerBest organic restaurant/food service2024 Awards ceremonyThe award ceremony will be organised on EU Organic Day on 23 September 2024. The winners will be invited to an event in Brussels to collect their awards. This event will involve representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, COPA-COGECA, and IFOAM Organics Europe. Winners will have the opportunity to explain their project to a broader public. Organic production has been identified as playing a key role in achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork strategy, and the Biodiversity strategy. The Commission also adopted the Action Plan for the Development of Organic Production in March 2021, including the launch of annual awards recognising excellence in the organic value chain.For this third edition of the EU organic awards, any actor or institution along the organic value chain with a noteworthy project were encouraged to apply. Each project submitted had to contribute to the greater affordability and/or accessibility of organic products in the EU. Project promoters had to be established or residents in the EU. Applications had to be submitted in one of the official EU languages and the projects EU based.The horizontal award criteria against which eligible applications were assessed by the EU Organic Awards jury were:ExcellenceThe innovative character of the project in the selected award categorySustainability pillars (environmental, social and economic) of the projectTransferability and possibility to replicate the project elsewhere in the EUMore details about the EU organic awards can be found online, as well as on organic farming in the EU.