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21. June 2022, 4 min read

Embla Nordic Food Award winners revealed

Author: Birgitte Brøndum
Women dressed in traditional Nordic folk costumes on the stage at EMBLA Nordic Food Awards.
Women dressed in traditional Nordic folk costumes on the stage at EMBLA Nordic Food Awards.
Photo: Espen Solli

The winners of the postponed Nordic Food Awards Embla 2021 were announced in Oslo on June 20, 2022. The awards are divided into seven different categories that celebrate Nordic food and highlight all the talented people behind it.

Embla celebrates many aspects of the Nordic kitchen

Embla Nordic Food Awards, founded by The Nordic Farmers’ Associations, are given for the third time this year.

So, what does Embla mean? The name Embla is taken from Norse mythology. Embla was the first woman made by the gods from a tree.

The previous award ceremonies were held in 2017 and 2019. Due to Covid-19, Embla’s 2021 ceremony was postponed, but now in 2022, the talented and innovative award winners have finally been revealed!

The Nordic kitchen, with its clean flavours and use of local ingredients, is already loved far and wide. Nordic food has almost reached fashion status, but it’s so much more than just a buzzword or trend. For this reason, Embla has a varied range of categories that celebrate different aspects and qualities of Nordic gastronomy.

Who is the Embla jury?

Embla is an award with an open nomination system. Everyone can nominate an individual, organization or company for one of the categories. You can even nominate yourself, your colleague, your company or the business you work for.

The national Embla jury consists of 3 members from each of the Nordic countries. Jury members select a representative who will be responsible for each category in each country. To make everything as fair as possible, the members of the jury can’t vote for candidates from their own countries.

When the jury members meet to select the award winners, they consider the following criteria: sustainability, inspiration, originality and honesty.

Here are the Embla categories

In 2022 Embla has chosen prize winners from nominees in the following seven categories:

From forest wine to fermented fish chips — previous Embla winners

There’s so much good to celebrate about what’s happening with food and food knowledge in the Nordic countries. More and more is happening, and we have lots to look forward to.

Thanks to all the talented people behind this development, the future looks bright, more sustainable and very delicious!

The award-winning product ideas from Embla 2017 and 2019 include everything from vegetables grown in harsh climates to high-quality wine made with wild berries and handmade fermented fish chips.

Sustainable distribution of local ingredients and teaching kids how to grow and cook food were also among the award-winning concepts.

Here are the Embla 2021 winners

Winners of the EMBLA Nordic Food Awards 2021
Photo: Espen Solli

Why not nominate your colleagues, a friend or yourself for Embla 2023?

The next Embla winners will be selected in 2023. This means that you still have plenty of time to nominate someone you admire or even yourself for one of the categories. Why not contribute to the future development of Nordic food by highlighting an innovative person or food project that deserves this special recognition?