David Pejic, who runs the oldest organic farm in Croatia, is among the eight winners of the EU's organic production awards, the European Commission announced on Friday.

The Commission announced the names of the eight recipients of the first EU organic awards in eight categories: best female organic farmer, best male organic farmer, best organic region, best organic city, best organic bio-district, best organic SME, best organic retailer, and best organic restaurant.

The winners come from Austria, Belgium, France, Croatia, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Sweden. They all represent the growth and innovation of the European organic sector and value chain, and its contribution to reducing agriculture’s impact on the climate and the environment.

Pejic was named the best organic male farmer.

The applications for the first EU organic awards were open from 25 March to 8 June 2022 and the 24 shortlisted finalists were announced in July 2022. They were chosen from a pool of over 200 submissions from 26 member states.

The jury for the awards was composed of representatives from the Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Committee of the Regions, COPA-COGECA and IFOAM Organics Europe as well as representatives from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. Entries were invited from any actor or institution along the organic value chain and were reviewed against the criteria of excellence, innovation, sustainability and possibility to replicate the project elsewhere in the EU, thus contributing to greater accessibility and affordability of organic products in the EU.

“I have been impressed by each and every one of the stories behind the winners. These are incredibly committed people, organisations and institutions, who have promoted organic production long before it became popular, often in very difficult circumstances. They come from all over the EU, showing that organics is alive everywhere, and that organic excellence can be found everywhere. In this sense, they give me much hope for the further development of organic production and the benefits it can bring for our farmers, rural communities, and society as a whole,” EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said at the award ceremony.

Pejic owns the organic farm Zrno (Grain) in Dubrava in Zagreb County, where he grows around 60 different agricultural crops on 22 hectares of land using innovations. Zrno has the largest no-till bio-intensive garden in the region and is focused on energy self-sufficiency, research and the Farm-to-Fork strategy.

The farm has 39 employees. It processes vegetables and makes naturally fermented preserves as well as more than 10 types of sourdough bread, 20 types of desserts and ready-made meals such as salads and sandwiches. All the products are organically certified, without ingredients of animal origin, and can be tried in Croatia’s first and only certified organic restaurant, the Zrno bio bistro in Zagreb.