Food Planet Prize

What Food Planet Prize does

Food Planet Prize is a philanthropic award initiative operated by The Curt Bergfors Foundation, a private Swedish foundation established in 2019 and capitalized with SEK 500 million from founder Curt Bergfors' private assets. The organization administers the world's largest environmental award dedicated exclusively to sustainable food systems, awarding roughly $1.5-2 million annually to initiatives across production, consumption, and waste, with selections drawn from an open, year-round global nominations funnel that receives approximately 1,000 submissions per year from all continents.

The foundation's core offerings consist of three components: the annual Food Planet Prize (currently one $1.5 million winner plus $150,000 finalist awards), the Curt Bergfors Professorship at Stockholm University (a SEK 20 million, ten-year funded academic chair), and a web-based nominations platform. Winners and finalists are selected through a 13-month evaluation process that includes academic reviews, on-site visits, Ernst & Young due diligence and compliance checks, and deliberation by an international jury co-chaired by Director-General Magnus Nilsson, the former head chef of Fäviken Magasinet. Past winners include APCNF (1.8 million farmers transitioned to agroecology in India, 2026), ColdHubs (solar-powered cold storage in Nigeria, 2022), Global Mangrove Alliance (2022), and Agrobiodiversity Index (2023).

The business model is a nonprofit foundation operating on a finite endowment; there are no external investors, no commercial revenue, and no pricing. Operations are funded entirely from the founding capital, with annual prize disbursement and a small operational budget managed by a lean team of approximately five professionals under an independent board chaired by Richard Bergfors, with board members including Lynda Ondrasek Olofsson and Line Gordon. Distribution is global across identified markets including India, Nigeria, the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Indonesia, China, Argentina, Australia, the Netherlands, and Mexico, with marketing concentrated on press releases, the foundation website, newsletters, annual ceremony events in Sweden, and organic social media within the sustainability community.

Name

Food Planet Prize

Legal name

The Curt Bergfors Foundation

Website

https://foodplanetprize.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Food Planet Prize is a philanthropic initiative of The Curt Bergfors Foundation that awards the world's largest environmental prize annually to sustainable food system initiatives globally, selecting winners from approximately 1,000 nominations through a rigorous 13-month evaluation process.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainability Awards

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (BPAGAGAI), Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (Fair Trade, Food Access, Regenerative) (BPAGALAD), Food Systems & Value Chain Development for Nutrition (BPADAJAG)

Keywords

• Sustainability awards
• Food system prizes
• Environmental grants
• Philanthropic foundation
• Agroecology recognition

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Prize Awards: The organization distributes prize money to winners of the Food Planet Prize. The prize is funded entirely by the founding capital donated by Curt Bergfors. Prize amounts have ranged from $1 million per winner (2020) to $2 million per winner (2022-2023), with 2025 and 2026 featuring $1.5 million for the winner and $150,000 for finalists.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Food Planet Prize is the world's largest environmental award dedicated to food system sustainability, awarding $1.5-2 million annually to initiatives that support a resilient biosphere while feeding the world. Nominations are open year-round through the organization's website to any individual or organization with a sustainable food initiative, with shortlisted finalists receiving $150,000 each.

Product overview

Food Planet Prize operates as an award organization rather than a technology product company. Its core offerings consist of the Food Planet Prize (the world's largest environmental award of $1.5-2 million for sustainable food system initiatives), the Curt Bergfors Professorship (academic research funding at Stockholm University), and a nominations management platform (web-based form system). These offerings work together to identify, evaluate, and reward transformative food system initiatives globally.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Food Planet Prize The world's largest environmental award, rewarding initiatives that support the resilient biosphere while feeding the world. Awards $1.5-2 million annually to winning sustainable food system initiatives, with nominations open year-round to individuals and organizations in both commercial and non-commercial settings.
• Curt Bergfors Professorship An independent professorship in sustainability science with a focus on sustainable food systems, funded by the Curt Bergfors Foundation at Stockholm University. Funded with SEK 20 million over ten years to advance knowledge on food systems transformation.
• Food Planet Prize Nominations Platform Online nominations system allowing anyone to nominate sustainable food initiatives year-round through a simplified web form collecting nominee information, contact details, and initiative descriptions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,000 nominations received annually from diverse global initiatives
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Swedish Embassies (Nigeria and USA)minorOthers · 1 January 2022The Swedish Embassies in Nigeria and USA partnered with Food Planet Prize to hand over diplomas to the 2022 winners ColdHubs and Global Mangrove Alliance.
• Stockholm University / Stockholm Resilience CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 February 2021The Curt Bergfors Foundation funds the 'Curt Bergfors professorship in sustainability science with a focus on sustainable food systems' at Stockholm University. Line Gordon was appointed as the professor. This is a fundamental step in the foundation's mission to advance knowledge on food systems through deeper interdisciplinary research.
• Ernst & YoungcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCommissioned to conduct full due diligence and compliance reports on each prize nominee to ensure organizations and people behind them are suitable to receive the prize money.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• The Rockefeller Foundation: Large-scale philanthropic foundation with major commitments to sustainable food systems (e.g., Smart Power Market Initiatives, Food System Vision Prize). Overlaps with Food Planet Prize as a much larger, diversified funder in the same domain.
• Gates Foundation (Food Systems): The world's largest philanthropic foundation runs major agricultural development and food-system programs. Comparable as a dominant incumbent funder shaping the food-system impact agenda Food Planet Prize engages with.

Regional players

• Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation: Italy-based foundation researching and convening around sustainable food systems. Comparable in food-system sustainability focus but primarily Europe-convening rather than running a global cash-prize model.

Direct peers

• Buckminster Fuller Institute: Administers the Buckminster Fuller Challenge, a $100K prize recognizing initiatives with comprehensive, anticipatory, design-led solutions to humanity's most pressing problems. Comparable as a curated impact-prize model.
• Earthshot Prize: Earthshot Prize is a $1M+ per-category annual environmental award backed by the Royal Foundation. Closely comparable to Food Planet Prize in mission (large-scale environmental impact), prize size, and global nomination model.
• XPRIZE Foundation: XPRIZE runs large, multi-million-dollar incentive prizes to catalyze breakthrough solutions across domains including food and environment. Highly comparable in mechanics of using prize purses to drive innovation at scale.
• The World Food Prize: The World Food Prize is the most established annual award recognizing achievements in improving food quality and availability. Directly comparable to Food Planet Prize as a flagship food-system award with a global nominee pool and large prize purse.

Others

• Future Earth: Future Earth is a global sustainability research network coordinating science on planetary boundaries, food systems, and climate. Adjacent enabling player providing research backbone for food-system funders like the Curt Bergfors Foundation.

Emerging players

• The Lexicon / Foodshot Global: Foodshot Global is a purpose-driven platform catalyzing innovation in sustainable food and agriculture through prizes, equity investments, and debt. Comparable as a multi-modal food-system impact platform overlapping with Food Planet Prize's prize model.
• EAT Foundation: EAT is a non-profit focused on transforming the global food system through science-based targets and partnerships. Adjacent to Food Planet Prize as a food-systems-focused nonprofit but operates through convening and standards rather than prizes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FoodPlanetPrize
• Facebookfacebook.com/FoodPlanetPrize
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/foodplanetprize

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Food Planet Prize