COMPETITION INFORMATION

All of the following steps must be completed for the product to be considered as entered in the competition.

• One entry per product and category, i.e. if the same product is entered in several categories, two entries must be made. Make sure that oba@nocsweden.se and info@nocsweden.se are trusted addresses so that you do not miss our mailings (for example, by adding them to your address book).

• The registration fee will be invoiced by NOC Sweden after registration. Non-payment will lead to disqualification, but the claim remains.

• 10 products per registered product and category must be submitted (if a product is registered for 2 categories, 20 products must be submitted).

• The products are sent to NOC Sweden according to instructions that are emailed out. The products must be received by us no later than 10 March.

• NOTE! The box must be clearly labelled ‘OBA 2025’

• Choose postal agent and not home delivery.

• Please attach information that is relevant to describe the sustainability concept of the product. The information should be printed in 2 copies - one description per brand is sufficient regardless of the number of products notified. It is up to the brand to describe the sustainability concept in the best possible way so that the sustainability expert can make a relevant assessment, so please prepare this well in advance.

• The competition management decides whether the entered product fulfils the basic criteria for participation. If a product is not considered to fulfil the criteria, the entrant will be contacted.

Help and tips on filling in the entry form

• Product name. Please do not include the brand name in the product name, it should be in a separate field only.

• Product description. A selling description of the product and its benefits, efficacy, etc. - mainly aimed at explaining the product to the jury.

• Image: Image of the product that is in a suitable format for web publication. The image needs to be cropped - there are web tools (e.g. here) available to crop images if cropped images are not available.

Other things to consider

• Quality control. Notified products will undergo a quality control to ensure that products that do not have an approved certification are within the scope of what can be considered a ‘natural, organic’ product. The inspection is led by our product experts with extensive experience in assessing product quality. Products that pass certification automatically pass this stage. The product experts also rate the content included in the competition criteria.

• Sustainability. Participating brands will also be scrutinised by our sustainability experts. Therefore, it is very important that you also submit your sustainability concept where you describe how your sustainability work works - in the absence of sustainability information, 0 points will be awarded, which greatly reduces the possibility of winning.

• Please note that submitted products will not be returned if a product does not pass the quality control (due to the jury receiving the products before the quality process is completed) and the entry fee will not be refunded.

• Information provided must be truthful, deficiencies may result in disqualification.

• The entrant agrees that the product/brand entered may be promoted and marketed in connection with the competition and/or in co-operation with the competition's sponsors.

• Tip: If you want to attach general information about the product, this is permitted and encouraged, e.g. a product sheet/brochure that more clearly describes the product promise or brand. Remember to do so in a relevant number of copies. The regular jury that assesses effect, etc. consists of 5 people per category, the quality jury that assesses content of 2 people, and the above-mentioned sustainability jury of 2 people.

Cost of participation

• Cost of registration, product 1 - non-member: SEK 3,000

• Cost of subsequent product: SEK 1,500

• Cost for product 3: 750 SEK

• Members of NOC Sweden: 25% discount on the registration fee

Membership in NOC Sweden is affordable and can be subscribed in connection with registration to get a membership discount.

The competition is open to both members and non-members of NOC Sweden. The following requirements must be met:

• The product must be physically available to the jury according to the timeframes set for this year's competition and must essentially comply with Swedish regulations regarding product labeling and content information according to the Swedish Medicines Agency's guidelines.

• The product must be a natural, organic skin and beauty care product and fit into one of the presented categories.

• The product must have one of NOC Sweden's approved certifications (see nocsweden.se ) or be deemed to be of equivalent quality (correspond to the requirements for Ecocert which we use as a standard). The assessment is made by "OBA's" quality manager and cannot be appealed.

• Please note that you are automatically approved if you have a certification, but with the exception of ingredients that Ecocert does not allow, including phenoxyethanol and synthetic perfume, as well as other substances that you see on NOC Sweden's website .

• No gift boxes, special promotional items, etc. are allowed. Only products from the regular range.

• A maximum of 3 products per category may be entered per brand.

• Products for "News of the Year" must be launched after 1/1/2024 (for the 2025 competition). Products that have not yet been launched may also be eligible, however, the products must be made available to the jury within the timeframes set.

• A product may only win the "Product of the Year" category once, i.e. after winning, re-submission to "Product of the Year" is not permitted.

• In the "Made in Scandinavia" category, we want to highlight all small-scale Nordic companies operating in the green beauty industry. The requirement is that the brand has its main headquarters in Scandinavia.

With the exception of Product of the Year, which is selected by a special jury, the winners are selected by a jury based on the criteria below, where points are set 1–5, with the exception of sustainability, where points are set 1–3.

• Effect – how well the product promise is fulfilled. Weight: 2

• Feel – scent, feel on the skin, overall feeling when using. Weight: 1

• Application – how user-friendly the product is perceived to be. Weight: 1

• Impression – perceived value for money as well as design and visual impression of the product. Weight: 1

• Ingredient quality – highly natural, organic is rewarded. This assessment is made by a specially appointed jury under the leadership of the quality manager. Weight 0.5

• Ingredient effectiveness – this assessment is also made by a specially appointed jury under the leadership of the quality manager and the assessment is made based on the content and composition of the active ingredients. Weight 1.

• Sustainability – the product's environmental impact and sustainability concept including packaging, transport, production principles. This assessment is made by a specially appointed jury with expertise in the field. Please note that this criterion may be decisive if there is a tie between certain products, so don't forget to send in your sustainability concept! Weight: 1.

Participation in OBA offers the opportunity to earn rewards at several different levels. Anyone who reaches any of these levels is given the opportunity to use a specially designed logo for marketing purposes. Bronze, Silver, Gold logos can also be made in English by request.

• Shortlisted

• Bronze

• Silver

• Gold (of those awarded Gold, the one with the highest score will be awarded the sponsored competition prize unless otherwise specifically communicated)