All photos from the award ceremony: Per Byrknes.
Innovation Norway awards the Business Development Award (BU Award) in agriculture every year on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and this is a business and industry development award for those who have established a successful business or industry based on resources in agriculture or in the countryside. And this year, Vossabia has won, just think! Assessed according to the criteria of sustainability and innovation/new creation in agriculture. What a great honor, it sure feels good to be seen and appreciated 🤩🙌.
The jury, which this year consisted of representatives from Vestland County Municipality, the State Administrator of Vestland, the Farmers' and Smallholders' Association, the Vestland Farmers' Association and Innovation Norway, has recognized the work we do to combine the use of resources on a small Vestland farm with sustainability, health and a spotlight on biodiversity and ecology 🌸🌿. I am deeply grateful for this recognition 🙌.
It has been a long journey and a lot of hard work from the first thoughts over 20 years ago about utilizing the resources on the farm to where we are today. The bees opened my eyes to the amazing diversity of nature, and I began to see the possibilities in the resources that others often take for granted – including honey, beeswax, wild herbs and plants 🐝🌿. I had already been very interested in general health since the mid-1990s. When I moved back home to the farm in 2000 and discovered the rich biodiversity through the bees that Erik, Emil and Ylva's father, brought to the farm, and I began to study both professional beekeeping and herbalism, I knew what to do next 💡.
It has always been important to me to create products that not only provide well-being, but also strengthen health 💪, both in the short and long term. This foundation in Vossabia stands firm even now, 20 years later ✨🫶. I have always aimed to provide natural and organic alternatives to products we need in our everyday lives, for everyone in the family. Everything from the baby bump to erotica, from acne to wounds that won't heal, and from muscle pain to daily well-being. And then there has always been a protest against the cosmetics industry inside Vossabia, the rebel in me must admit that ✊🫡.
I would like to thank you, our customers and partners, who have helped make this possible 🙏. Without you, Vossabia would not have reached over 100,000 customers and over 120 dealers across the country 🤯.
When I think about how much skepticism I faced at the beginning, for this strange thing: skin care that is 100% natural and also organic, many turned their backs when I said it, to the amazing change in the consumer. In recent years, people have become so incredibly much more open, interested and aware. I love it, and I am extremely happy that I have persevered 💖😄! I look forward to continuing to develop products that both provide good health benefits and can help people, and at the same time protect nature. This is something I am really passionate about, and it is so incredibly stimulating and fun 🤩!
I am so lucky and grateful to have such great employees! 🥰
One of the aspects of our work that I would like to highlight is the collaboration with other local suppliers and producers. We use a lot of our own raw materials from the farm, growing, picking and processing more than a dozen different species, and we pick in the high mountains and on the coast 🏔️🌊. We also purchase high-quality organic ingredients from other organic farmers outside Norway via our super-skilled supplier Sunvita in Bergen, which we have collaborated with since the start in 2004 and for which I am so grateful 🙏. And then we have collaboration with some good farmers in our county. It is fantastic to be able to raise the quality of the product with local raw materials such as sea buckthorn from Sogn, or nettle and yarrow from Naustdal. This not only gives me the opportunity to create unique products, but also to convey the story behind these fantastic ingredients and the producers behind them 🪻🧑🌾.
We have a lot of exciting things coming up 😋! With the construction of a new farm building for Vossabia planned for 2025, and the continued development of our product portfolio, we look forward to bringing even more of nature right to your home 🏠🐝.
By the way, we are still testing out a healthy, safe and effective eyelash serum that I have developed, which has already made our lashes longer, so I hope you enjoy it with us for what is and what is to come 💁♀️.
Thank you for your support and trust – together we will continue to put nature on your skin 🫶!
Warm regards,
Queen bee 🐝 in Vossabia
Queen bee 🐝 in Vossabia