Two West Flemish companies in the running for the Bio Entrepreneur 2023 title

The two West Flemish nominees will compete against Bioboer Mark Van Hove from Bekkevoort, customization company De Kromme Boom vzw from Oostakker and Omage from Mariakerke.

Sustainable beef

Farm Hierford in Rollegem – which keeps Herford cattle ‘from here’ – wants to become the reference in the field of sustainable organic beef. The organic farm is strongly committed to circular agriculture and wants to integrate into nature as much as possible. The ambition is to produce less but better and sustainable meat with a view to future-oriented livestock farming.

Johan Christiaens: “At Hierford, we breed cattle in an organic and nature-inclusive way for meat sales in the short chain. We are pleased that as a relatively new company in the sector we are given the opportunity to show that agriculture can be supported by the community and can go hand in hand with nature conservation.”

Organic fruit juices

Hof ‘t Klokhuis in Zwevegem, various types of organic fruit are grown. The organic company was looking for a sustainable solution for packaging their fruit juices, and opted for cans. Cans are much lighter than glass so that there are less costs for transport, the storage time is longer in cans and the taste of the juice is better.

Pieter Harrie, Marijke & Johan Verrue-Harrie van Hof ‘t Klokhuis: “We are very happy with this nomination. It is a true reward and acknowledgment of years of difficult quest to create an honest, healthy, ecological and hip farm product with spice.”

Passion

In the coming months, the jury will visit the five nominated companies to make the final decision. The jury assesses the projects based on passion, innovation and sustainability.

The BioVLAM is an initiative of the biosector in collaboration with VLAM and will be awarded in September. The laureate becomes the ambassador for organic for a year.