BOOM awards terms & conditions

Best of Organic Market Awards 2023

Terms and conditions

Entries for the BOOM Awards 2023 have now closed.

Each category will be judged by an independent panel of judges overseen by the BOOM Awards Executive Judging Committee.

The judges’ decision is final. All decisions will be overseen by the Executive Judging Committee with special cases and contested decisions discussed and resolved in this forum. The Executive Judging Committee will have the final say on the finalists and winners. The Executive Judging Committee members are:

• Alex Cullen, Commercial & Marketing Director, Soil Association Certification
• Steve Ashworth, Director, PKF Francis Clark
• Jerry Alford, Senior Farming Advisor, Soil Association
• Lisa Oxenham, Beauty & Style Director, Marie Claire

Entry fees

• All entries must be made online at https://boom.awardsplatform.com/ - live until 11:59pm on 15^th December 2022
• Cost of entry per category:
  • FREE entry for smaller clients of Soil Association Certification (organic sales turnover under £250K and limited to 2 free entries)
  • £65 +VAT per entry for products/ businesses certified by Soil Association Certification
  • £130 +VAT per entry for products/ businesses certified by another certification body
• Multiple product entries are welcome and promotional pricing is offered:
  • 25% off 4^th and 5^th entries
  • 50% off 6^th entries and any thereafter
• Payment must be made at time of entry via the online entry form.
• Contact details for entrants experiencing any difficulties: boom@soilassociation.org, tel: 0117 914 2440.
• Free entry code: To secure your two free entries use the discount code "smallbusiness" upon checkout. NOTE: Only Soil Association-certified licensees are eligible for the free entry code offer. Licence numbers required at registration. Licences will be checked and any false application of the discount code will lead to immediate disqualification.

Refund policy

• No refunds can be made for entries cancelled or retracted.
• It will not be possible to accept any entry that does not meet the eligibility criteria. In the event of a product, business or initiative not meeting the eligibility criteria, no monies can be refunded.
• It will not be possible to accept any product entries that do not meet the delivery specification requirements for judging. In the event of a product not meeting the delivery deadline, no monies can be refunded.
• In the event that the judging of a particular category is cancelled and there isn’t a suitable alternative category, a refund can be issued.

General terms

• The organisers reserve the right to place entries in whichever category they feel appropriate.
• The organisers reserve the right to add or remove sub-categories from within a main category if they feel appropriate.
• The organisers reserve the right to cancel any category if there are insufficient entries to run it.
• The organisers reserve the right to withhold an award in any category if, in the judges’ opinion, no product reaches the necessary standard.
• The organisers reserve the right to withdraw an award at any time if, in their opinion, the actions of the recipient or nature of the winning product threatens the integrity of the Soil Association Certification BOOM Awards.
• 3 finalists are selected for each category, one of which will be selected as the overall category winner. Where there are subcategories, 3 finalists including 1 winner will be selected for each subcategory and then 1 overall winner (from the winners of the subcategories) is then selected as the main category winner.

Organic certification

• The following categories require organic certification by Soil Association Certification or another official and accredited certification body. You will need to upload valid certificates to complete your entry (although you can start and save you entry without it).
• If you don’t have access to these documents, you may need to consult your quality/technical team or whoever is the named licence holder in your company to get a copy.
• All certificates must be valid for the full period of the BOOM Awards programme - both at the time of entry and at the time of the Awards Ceremony. If any certificates are due to expire before the Ceremony we will be in touch to obtain updated copies.

Categories:

• All food and drink products
• Box schemes
• Independent Retailers (if you process or sell any unpackaged organic products i.e. fresh produce / dry goods refills.)
• Farms (+10ha) and Smallholdings and Market Gardens (-10ha)
• Start Ups (only members of the Soil Association Certification Start-Ups Support Package (including applicants) can enter, but you must have had your licence issued before final judging in May 2023. If you don’t have a certificate yet please enter your Soil Association Certification reference number.)
• Best of Organic Fashion & Textiles Products* (GOTS)
• Best of Organic Home Products* (GOTS if applicable, COSMOS Organic for cosmetics products, or Soil Association health & beauty scheme)
• Best of Organic Beauty & Wellbeing Products
  * (GOTS if applicable, COSMOS Organic for cosmetics products, or Soil Association health & beauty scheme)

*if you are selling B2B, or if you are selling B2C only and therefore aren’t certified please provide supplier certificate/s.

The following categories do not need an organic certificate to be submitted as part of the entry process, but you must be able to evidence your support for organic as per the criteria against the relevant questions on the entry form.

• Eating Out
• Online Retailers
• Independent Retailers (if you DON’T process or sell any unpackaged organic products i.e. fresh produce / dry goods refills)
• Supermarkets
• Innovations
• Packaging
• Marketing Campaigns
  
  

Best of Organic Food & Drink Awards

• Products entered must be available for purchase by the general public in the UK for at least 3 months in 2022-23.
• New products must have launched between 1^st November 2022 and 31^st March 2023 and be shelf-ready, in retail-ready packaging.
• All food & drink product samples must be delivered to the judging venue at the date and time communicated by the BOOM Awards Team – detailed communications will be sent out about this nearer the time.
• All food and drink product entries are judged on quality and taste and not organic story, with the exception of the Baby & Children’s and New Product categories which require some additional information. There will be 3 judges per category.  

Best of Organic Beauty & Wellbeing, Fashion & Textiles and Home Products Awards

• Products entered must be available for purchase by the general public in the UK for at least 3 months in 2022-23.
• New products must have launched between 1^st November 2022 and 31^st March 2023 and be shelf-ready, in retail-ready packaging.
• Finalists will be asked to send 4 x product samples directly to judges for testing at the date and time communicated by the BOOM Awards Team – detailed communications will be sent out about this nearer the time.

Best of Organic Business Awards

• Businesses must be operational at the time of entry and at time of the Awards Ceremony.
• Initiatives must have taken place during 2022-23.
• All awards are judged remotely based on forms submitted online.

Judging

• Judging will take place in March, April and May 2023 exact dates, times and locations to be confirmed.
• All finalists will be contacted shortly after the judging to confirm if they have been shortlisted for an award.
• Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Wednesday 5th July 2023 and online at soilassociation.org/boomawards after the awards.