Holli Mølle AS wins the 2023 Business Development Award for Agriculture in Viken

The winner has built a solid business in Spydeberg. Using grain varieties spanning the entire history of grain cultivation in our culture – from the earliest known grains to the most modern varieties – Holli Mølle produces flour for every purpose. The company is helping to increase the production and consumption of Norwegian organic grain.

Through its long-term, innovative approach, the winning company has successfully harnessed the farm's and the agricultural sector's resources in a profitable way. Using creative methods, the company has promoted heritage grain varieties and increased demand for traditional products.

‘The award recognises our company’s long-standing commitment to sustainability and innovation. Holli Mølle has focused on this since we started in 2007, and we are proud to have won the 2023 Business Development Award for Viken,’ says Trygve Nesje, founder and Chair of the Board at Holli Mølle AS.

This year's winner established a mill in one of the farm buildings on the family farm in Spydeberg in 2007, but the family has been milling grain for centuries, dating back to the 1700s. The company is a well-established food producer that makes and sells flour and grain products using Norwegian-grown grain. It produces flour from spelt, heritage grains and wheat, all organically grown.

Through its operations, the winner has helped increase demand for organic flour products. This has, in turn, boosted organic grain production in Norway and increased the share of Norwegian grain in our consumption, which is important for Norway’s self-sufficiency. The company has contracts with 55 grain producers. It processes the raw materials with full traceability, allowing each bag of flour to be labelled with the farm where the grain was grown. By using Norwegian-grown, organic raw materials, the company helps reduce transport, pesticide and artificial fertiliser use, thereby improving environmental sustainability.

The company makes a conscious effort to use local workers and suppliers when upgrading or expanding its facilities, and also demonstrates a strong commitment to social inclusion. This includes employing people who face barriers to entering the workforce and recruiting a large proportion of its employees through NAV.

'For many years, Holli Mølli AS has been a key driving force in the organic grain production value chain and is a very deserving winner of the 2023 Business Development Award for Viken,' says our Regional Director for Oslo and Viken, Kristin Willoch Haugen.

'They have impressed us with their high-quality products and have successfully reached a wide range of customer segments,' she says.

The candidates for this year's award were assessed against the criteria of economic, social and environmental sustainability and innovation. The jury comprised representatives from Innovation Norway, the County Governor of Oslo and Viken, Viken County Council, the Norwegian Farmers' Union and the Norwegian Farmers and Smallholders Union.

Although Holli Mølle is also a major supplier of raw materials to the food industry, the company can command prices that ensure healthy profits. It achieves this through effective promotion and the development of exciting products. The company places a strong emphasis on product development to meet its customers' needs.

Overall, the company operates sustainably in social, economic and environmental terms. By also helping to increase organic grain production in Norway and thereby strengthen food security, the company is a clear winner of this year's Business Development Award in Viken.