Family run organic farm and mill, the Merry Mill in Co. Laois has been shortlisted as best organic food processing small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) in this year’s EU Organic Awards.
The three best projects have been selected for each of the eight individual awards, with a total of 24 finalists from 11 EU countries, the European Commission announced.
The Scully family behind the Merry Mill produces a range of premium organic gluten-free foods, including Irish organic gluten-free oats, organic gluten-free flour, and organic produce.
Welcoming the announcement, the Merry Mill founder and CEO, Kevin Scully said:
“We are delighted to receive recognition for our organic oat mill and represent the organic sector in Ireland at the EU Organic Awards.
“We built Ireland’s first organic gluten-free mill seven years ago and are so grateful for the support we have received from Ireland and abroad since.”
The EU Organic Awards were first launched in 2022 with the objective of recognising excellence all along the organic value chain, from farmers to restaurants and from SMEs to bio-districts.
EU Organic Awards
The European Commission has set a target of 25% of EU agricultural land being under organic farming by 2030, in addition to a significant increase in the level of organic aquaculture.
The EU’s Organic Action Plan contends that in order to stimulate organic production, consumer demand for organic products needs to grow, the commission said.
This requires greater public awareness of the characteristics and benefits of organic production. Thus, the awards were conceived as a means to increase public awareness of organics.
The finalists in each category of the 2023 EU Organic Awards are as follows:
Best organic farmer (female):
- Małgorzata Pucer (Pasiekapucer) – Barciany, Poland;
- Céline Clenet (La Casseline) – Cassel, France;
- Clara Benito Pacheco (Entrelobas) – Serrada de la Fuente, Spain.
Best organic farmer (male):
- Roberto Giadone (Natura Iblea) – Ispica, Sicily, Italy;
- Thomas Moschos (Moschos Farm) – Kastoria, Greece;
- Mikhaylo Haliv (Tomelloso) – Ciudad Real, Spain.
Best organic region:
- Dordogne, France;
- Centre-Val de Loire, France;
- Burgenland, Austria.
Best organic city:
- BioStadt Bremen, Germany;
- Hajdúnánás, Hungary;
- Stadt Wien, Austria.
Best organic “bio-district”:
- Bio Região de S. Pedro do Sul, Viseu district, Portugal;
- Idanha-a-Nova, Beira Baixa, Portugal;
- Biodistretto della Via Amerina e delle Forre, Civita Castellana, Italy.
Best organic food processing SME:
- Fürstenhof GmbH – Finkenthal, Germany;
- The Merry Mill – Vicarstown, County Laois, Ireland;
- Ekološka kmetija Kukenberger – Trebnje, Slovenia.
Best organic food retailer:
- Valle y Vega Cooperativa Agroecológica de Granada – Churriana de la Vega, Andalucia, Spain;
- Gut Wulksfelde– Tangstedt, Hamburg, Germany;
- NaturaSì Conegliano – Conegliano, Veneto, Italy.
Best organic restaurant/food service:
- Luftburg – Kolariks Freizeitbetriebe GmbH – Vienna, Austria;
- Trnulja Country Estate – Ljubljana, Slovenia;
- Biohotel St. Daniel – Štanjel, Slovenia.
The awards are jointly organised by the commission, the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Committee of the Regions, Copa-Cogeca and IFOAM Organics Europe.
The jury for the awards is composed of representatives from these organisations, as well as from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
The winners will be announced at the official award ceremony to be held in Brussels on September 25.
Organic farming
“Increasing organic farming, aquaculture and production makes a significant contribution to reducing the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and anti-microbials,” according to the commission.
“It has a positive effect on our climate, the environment, biodiversity and animal welfare. It can also contribute to fair farmer incomes and rural development.
“That is why organic production has been identified as playing a key role in the delivery of the objectives set out in the Green Deal, and the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies,” the commission said.
The EU area used for organic agricultural production increased from 14.7 million hectares in 2020 to 15.9 million hectares in 2021 – the equivalent of 9.9% of the total farming land available.
In 2021, France topped the organic polls with 2.8 million hectares of land area used for agricultural production, followed by Spain (2.6 million hectares), and Italy (2.2 million hectares).
Many countries like Poland, Croatia, France, Hungary and Romania rapidly boosted the area under organic production in the nine years to 2021, Eurostat figures show.
However, there were six countries in the EU where the share of organic farming was still below 5% in 2021. At about 2% of agricultural land under organics, Ireland has the third-lowest share in the EU.