ROME, JULY 28 – Fifty small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) around the world, including Italy-based IUV, a plastic-free packaging solutions company, and Treedom, the first platform that allows individuals and companies to plant trees online and follow the history of the project they will create, have been announced as the Best Small Businesses of the “Good Food for All” competition, held in conjunction with the UN Food Systems Summit.
Selected from nearly 2,000 applications from 135 countries, the 50 winners all showcase inspiring, diverse, and impactful solutions in improving access to healthy, sustainable food. Founded by Cosimo Palopoli and based in Faenza, IUV makes packaging products consisting of a biodegradable, compostable vegetable biopolymer coating. The packaging is designed to protect or improve freshness, firmness, shelf-life, appearance, taste, color and smell of foods. Since Treedom’s foundation in 2010 in Florence, more than 1.9 million trees have been planted in 17 countries. All the trees are planted directly by local farmers and contribute to environmental, social and economic benefits. The philosophy is to create sustainable ecosystems and enable thousands of farmers to meet the initial costs of planting new trees, while ensuring food sovereignty and income opportunities over time.
Each winner was celebrated as a “Best Small Business: Good Food for All” and share US$100,000 in cash prizes. At the UNFSS event to announce the winners, a short video was shared to showcase their stories and highlight SMEs’ vital work in sustainably nourishing families all around the world.
Each winner was selected for how their business contributes to healthier, more sustainable and equitable food for the communities they serve; the strength of their vision for the future; and how well they communicate the current and future impact of their business.
These food SMEs are quiet revolutionaries. Their founders embody an ascending world-wide cohort of passionate, values-driven, innovative food entrepreneurs. Half are youth and nearly half are women. Winners come from a total of 42 countries from Europe & Central Asia (10); Africa & Middle East (13); East Asia & Pacific (10); South Asia (8); and North and Latin America (9).
Despite their importance to the future of food, small businesses are too rarely heard on the international stage. This competition, which included a survey, captured their ambition and needs. These are presented in a report, “A Small Business Agenda for the UN Food Systems Summit”, that calls for the world to rally behind SMEs as the vanguard of a food revolution.
With a conducive business environment, positive incentives, and greater influence, SMEs can deliver a more nourishing, sustainable, equitable and resilient food system. As part of the announcement ceremony held in conjunction with the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit, other small businesses around the world will be encouraged to join in the call to do their part in this decade of action by signing a pledge. (@OnuItalia)
