Finalists for the 2024 Australian Organic Industry Awards have been revealed, celebrating Australia’s finest certified organic producers, processors and operators across seven categories.
Hosted by Australian Organic Limited (AOL), this year’s awards will be presented at the conclusion of the two-day Australian Organic Conference, held in Melbourne on 7-8 March
AOL CEO Niki Ford said this year’s award finalists covered some of the most recognisable brands and products available to Australian consumers.
“It’s clear certified organics is no longer a niche industry, with more and more shoppers looking for certification marks on the products they purchase.
“The 2024 Australian Organic Industry Award finalists set the standard for excellence, innovation and a commitment to sustainability in their certified organic products across a range of sectors including fresh produce, packaged goods, skincare, coffee and even fencing materials,” said Ford.
Hewitt Foods and its retail brand, Cleaver’s Organic Meat, is a finalist in three categories including Brand of the Year and Business of the Year, with Ash Murphy and Montanna Schollick from the company both in the running for the Young Organic Leader of the Year prize.
In its 25th year in the market in 2023, Cleaver’s introduced new paper-based trays to reduce plastic in landfill – one of the initiatives recognised in the Innovation Award category. The brand also achieved a 96 per cent compliance rate for the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) grading, with 91 per cent of their cattle achieving over 52+ MSA Index score.
Having expanded rapidly into more than 1500 outlets nationwide, Honest to Goodness is running for Brand of the Year and Business of the Year, with founder and product manager, Karen Ward, a finalist in the Organic Woman of the Year category.
Central Queensland organic beef producers, Fred and Anna Appleton from Appleton Cattle Company, have nominations for the Farmer of the Year and Organic Woman of the Year categories, respectively.
Returning winners Kialla Pure Foods (2022 Brand of the Year) and Dr Oetker Queen Australia (2022 Business of the Year) are again finalists in this year’s major categories.
The full list of category finalists include:
Brand of the Year
- Cleaver’s Organic Meat
- Dr Oetker Queen Australia
- endota
- Honest to Goodness
- INCA Organics
- Yallamundi Farms Pty Ltd
Business of the Year
- Hewitt Foods
- Honest to Goodness
- The Kialla Group
Farmer of the Year - Carly Burnham – Bonnie Doone
- Fred Appleton – Appleton Cattle Company
- James Pearson – Bullcreek
- Luke Cantrill – Cantrill Organics
- Shane Eldridge – Eldridge Fresh Organics
Innovation Award - General Organic
- Hewitt Foods – Cleaver’s Organic Packaging
- Urban Forager
- Woodshield
Organic Woman of the Year - Anna Appleton – Appleton Cattle Company
- Karen Ward – Honest to Goodness
- Lihua Song – Jasmin Skincare
- Lindsey Rogers – Conscious Ground Organics
- Marg Will – Organic Systems and Solutions
- Merilyn Parker – Jasper Coffee
Retailer of the Year
- Honest to Goodness
- Santos Organics
- Sherwood Road Organic Meats
- The Natural Grocery Company
Young Organic Leader of the Year
- Ash Murphy – Hewitt Agribusiness
- Chelsea Eldridge – Eldridge Fresh Organics
- Montanna Schollick – Hewitt
