Recently, Bord Bia announced the shortlist of organic food and drink producers for the National Organic Awards 2024, held in association with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to celebrate the achievements and high standards of the increasing number of organic growers, producers, and manufacturers in the country. The winners of the National Organic Awards will be revealed at an awards ceremony that takes place on Thursday, October 17th in the Bord Bia Global Hub in Dublin.
Judges reviewed the shortlisted companies at the National Organic Food Fair which took place in Merrion Square in Dublin on Saturday. Judges included chef Clodagh McKenna, food writer Suzanne Campbell, chef Janine Kennedy, food consultant Annie Dunne, and retail expert John McDonagh.
The shortlisted companies were judged across seven categoriesincluding a new award for 2024, The Organic Sector Champion which will be announced alongside the other winners at the ceremony in October. Among those shortlisted for the awards are Nik’s Tea from Rathcoole and Culinary Microherbs from Fingal.
Nik’s Tea is an award-winning supplier of bespoke and speciality teas from around the world. They are committed to an ecological production process & packaging plan and aim to create organic herbal teas that are healthy and full of exciting flavours. They are shortlisted for the Best New & Innovative Irish Organic Product for their Organic Cherry Spice Iced Tea. Culinary Microherbs is a family-run farm based in Dublin. They produce high-quality culinary grade microherbs year-round, free of herbicides and pesticides, and are hand harvested to order. They are shortlisted in the Best Irish Organic Private Label Product Award for their Live Microgreens Mix Box, as well as Best New & Innovative Irish Organic Product for their single unit Live Microgreens.
Commenting on the selection of short-listed producers, Emmet Doyle, Organic Sector Manager in Bord Bia, said “The National Organic Awards is an opportunity to shine a light on the quality of Ireland’s thriving organic sector and highlight some of the producers who continue to drive the sector from strength to strength. From speaking to our esteemed judges, the calibre of entries was excellent this year, which is reflected in the companies shortlisted . We would like to extend our congratulations to them, and thank all who entered this year.”
Winners of the National Organic Awards 2024 will get a one-to-one session with Bord Bia’s Client Capability team, who will help develop a bespoke package of supports to meet individual company needs up to the value of €5,000.
