The Hungarian Innovation Foundation together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Waters and Environmental Protection, the Ministry for National Development and Economy, the National Office for Research and Technology, the Hungarian Patent Office, the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Public Foundation for the Progress of Industry invited applications for the Hungarian Innovation Grand Prize for the 17th time on 10th December 2008.
Companies registered in Hungary could apply which gained significant profit by realizing innovation of great importance in 2008. The jury consisting of scientists and economic experts requested by the Hungarian Innovation Foundation evaluated the applications on the basis of the following evaluation aspects:

1. the achieved extra economic result or extra yearly income in 2008 and other technological, economical advantages
2. originality, novelty
3. social utility
The award ceremony took place in the House of the Parliament on Friday, 27th March. Our company GéSz Gaál és Sziklás Kft. was awarded recognition for its innovation of developing and producing a fruit and vegetable concentrate called Flavon Green. After the two recognitions won last year at the 16th Hungarian Innovation Grand Prize Competition this is the third recognition our company got from the Hungarian Association for Innovation.

The aim of the Hungarian Agricultural Quality Award is to recognize and award a national prize to those domestic organizations that in the course of their work are verifiably committed to quality issues, and attach great importance to quality work, are eager to produce good-quality products steadily and provide top-quality services. The award founded in 2005 follows notable recognitions like the Hungarian Quality Award bestowed since 1996, the Public Education Quality Award founded in 2002 and the Hungarian Quality Award for Public Administration founded in 2003. Up to five enterprises are granted this award once a year.
Fundamental criteria of application were to respect the rules of environmental and animal protection, high-quality production, innovation, the development and distribution of foodstuffs that contribute to healthy nutrition. Futher conditions were that the company be free of public dues and debt, and the candidate’s activity comply with the quality requirements provided by law. The candidates were assessed by the nine-member Committee of the Hungarian Agricultural Quality Award, and the final decision was made on the basis of their proposal by the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development. Candidate companies are individually informed of the result of the assessment carried out by an expert committee.
This year it has been GéSz Gaál és Sziklás Kft. that has won the Hungarian Agricultural Quality Award besides Pick Szeged Zrt., Zsindelyes Pálinkafőzde Kft. and Hódagro Mezőgazdasági Zrt. The award is a sign of professional and ethical recognition of the past years and the success of the Flavon Max product line.

The Hungarian Association for Innovation as a safeguarder of the interests of professionals and employers places the economy boosting role of innovation into the focus of its activities – complying with the goals of its member companies. The association considers every activity innovation, which is defined to be innovation by the so-called Oslo Manual: „Innovation is the introduction of a new or significantly improved product (goods or services) or process, a new marketing method, or an organizational-operational method.” The association, having formed in 1990, decided to establish the Innovation Grand Prize in 1991, which is given in different categories based on the above quoted definition. The Grand Prize is given annually to a company, registered in Hungary, which carried out significant innovation in the year preceding the award winning ceremony, and benefited significantly from that. GéSz Gaál és Sziklás Kft., for the innovation entitled „GéSz Flavon max, Flavon kids, Flavon max Plus+ dietary supplement product line and the Flavon max Consumer Club”, carried out in 2007, was recognized by the association in the frame of the 16th Hungarian Innovational Grand Prize.

Major sphere of activities of the Regional Innovation Agency of the Northern Great Plain:
- Establishment of a regional network between innovation provider service companies, university think-tanks, and enterprises involved in innovation; organizing the performers of innovation into a system; and concerting innovational processes.
- Operating research and development information systems, providing informational and other innovational services, collecting innovative ideas.
- Providing information and counselling on the opportunities related to tenders, cooperation on research-development and industry law.
- Cooperation with professional and public organizations, organizing innovation fairs, conferences, establishing innovation awards.
Considering the favourable regional changes in innovation processes, the great interest in innovation tenders and the innovative achievements thus created, the Regional Development Council of Észak-Alföld [Northern Great Plain Region] decided to establish the Regional Innovation Award of Észak-Alföld on 13th June, 2007.
The aim of the award is to recognize developers’ works yielding outstanding achievements or outstanding individual performances that, on a national or regional level, realize product development, technological development, IT system development, or service development based on public or private funding in the year of awarding, or in the one prior to that. The starting-point of innovation can be the application of research-development findings, licence, know-how or the application of innovative technology. The tender was announced in 3 categories by the Regional Development Council of Észak-Alföld. The award was given to AKSD Kft. in the large firms category, and to GéSz Gaál és Sziklás Kft. in the micro-, small and private enterprises category, while this recognition was not allocated in the private enterprise category. This recognition was particularly important for us, because we could draw the attention even of professionals of our immediate region to us.

The Hungarian Quality Product Award trademark has certified the continuously supervised outstandingly good quality and reliability among products and their related services for the past 10 years. The aim of the tender is to:
- recognize the consistently high quality of products and services produced or distributed in Hungary;
- enhance the production of competitive, outstanding quality products and encourage service development;
- contribute to the manufacturer market work and improvement of export activity of products qualified with this award;
- provide obvious support for consumers of products and their services in quality conscious choice;
- support manufacturers, distributors and service providers in improving their quality politics with their tender system.
- promote that regulations based on the requirements of the European Union be spread and kept.
437 applications have been awarded different prices for the last 10 years, from which 142 ones possess the Hungarian Quailty Product Grand Price qualifying title. According to the decision of the Council of Proclaimers, the most outstanding products/product lines receive the HUNGARIAN QUALITY GRAND PRIZE® qualifying title, which is certified by a Qualifying Certificate in Hungarian and English languages and a unique trophy of applied arts created by the Hollóházi Porcelain Manufactury Zrt.
Based on the recommendation of the jury, products and manufacturers highly esteemed by the decision of the Council of Proclaimers were given the RECOGNIZED PRODUCT QUALIFYING TITLE OF THE HUNGARIAN QUALITY PRODUCT AWARD®, which is certified by a QUALIFYING CERTIFICATE and a unique plaquette created by the Hollóházi Porcelain Manufactury Zrt. In 2007, the GéSz Gaál és Sziklás Kft. received the QUALIFIED PRODUCT TITLE for creating the Flavon max, Flavon kids, Flavon max Plus+ colouring matters concentrates. It is special pleasure for us that we are the first MLM enterprise to receive this recognition.

The European Organization for Quality founded its Hungarian National Committee [Magyar Nemzeti Bizottság - MNB] in 1972. It created independent organizations within its own frames, and contributed to their establishment. These organizations work currently as independent legal personalities in close collaboration with the Committee. A body of this sort is called the Hungarian Quality Association and was founded in 1991. Its fundamental aim is to develop the quality culture of domestic economy. The aim of the Hungarian House of Quality Award announced annually by the association is to popularize domestic products and services of outstanding quality. One could apply for the award with products that are manufactured in Hungary, have outstanding quality features, their quality is steady due to the applied certified quality control system. Complying with these requirements, the Flavon max, Flavon kids and Flavon max Plus+ product family of outstanding quality manufactured by the GéSz Gaál és Sziklás Kft. won the Hungarian House of Quality 2007 award. The award winning ceremony took place in November 2007 in the frame of the 16th Hungarian Quality Week.
The list of award-winning products can be found on the portal of the Hungarian Quality Association under the name of Virtual House of Quality for 12 months: www.quality-mmt.hu

The Hungarian Venture Capital Association (MKME) was founded in 1991. In the last more than 15 years the association underwent a significant development, since the organization, which was founded by 5 members, today embraces 70 members. The Hungarian Venture Capital is a representative of every significant base, i.e. financial and intellectual source, of venture and private capital in Hungary. It endeavours to promote the development of the sector, shaping and keeping the professional principles, ensuring the high level of professional standards and developing them. Every significant Hungarian and foreign venture capital investor, other financial institution (investors to out-of-stock companies) and investment company is present among their members who is active in the country. MKME is member of the European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (EVCA), in which it represents its members in every important international professional issue besides other national associations.
It was the 10th time that the Enterprise of the Year award, announced by the Hungarian Venture Capital Association, was distributed in 2007. The aim of the application procedure is to express the appreciation of the association and risk capital industry towards enterprises embodying enterprising mentality, the striving after innovation, creation, and development that keep the wheels of economy rolling, and also towards ones that can serve as potential targets for risk and private capital investments.
Due to the business successes winners of last years have achieved, the Enterprise of the Year award is considered as a recognition of high prestige, which supports the prize-winners’ promotional aims. The Award qualifies applicants through the strict criterium system for venture and private capital investors in the region, thus it serves as an authentic assessor and reference for any small-, medium- company and corporate. The Hungarian Venture Capital Association recognized the GéSz Gaál és Sziklás Kft. in 2007 based on the application submitted for the Enterprise of the Year tender.

The Üzlet & Siker [Business & Success] magazine, designed for small and medium size undertakings, announced the Business & Success Qualified Enterprise tender, whose aim was to appraise the innovational skills and competitiveness of small and medium size undertakings in a unique way. We endavour to draw entrepreneaurs’ attention to the importance of objective analysis of economic achievements and the necessity of being familiar with competitors and the market environment.
The Üzlet & Siker magazine announced the Qualified Enterprise award for the sixth time in 2007. The award was distributed in three categories: trade, service and production. Within these, based on turnover, the tender was also announced in three sub-categories for companies whose average net turnover was between 100 million and 5 billion HUF. Applying undertakings also had to provide further information on their competitiveness, employment and innovation alongside with data reflecting the management of the company in the last three years.
The professional jury recognized GéSz Gaál és Sziklás Kft. as a dynamically developing, profitable undertaking of a promising strategy.

The local authority of Hajdú-Bihar county established the Quality Product Council of Hajdú Bihar County in February 2004 with the aim to support the performers of the local market with marketing and communicational tools. The association endeavours to find and nominate the quality products of the country. They endeavour to make people conscious of these products as national trademarks, while supporting the performers of the county in positioning on the market. The Quality Product Council of Hajdú Bihar County created the Quality Product Prize, which was distributed in three categories handicraft items-handicraft products, agricultural-food products, and industrial products.
The award is given to products, items or intellectual constructions that can be mass produced and traded. It was also possible to apply with products that are made of ingredients characteristic of Hajdú-Bihar country, and are basically created by the work of the people of county, and their appearance is also unique.
In 2007, GéSz Gaál és Sziklás Kft. won the award with the Flavon max dietary supplements in the agricultural, food industry products category.