The 21st International Festival of Organic Products Biofest took place on 15.10.2025, in Subotica, Serbia. The 21st International Festival of Organic Products “Biofest” marked 35 years of work by the Association “Teras” and focused more on the state, challenges and potential of organic farming in Serbia than on sales exhibits.

Speakers highlighted that:

Organic producer Sabolč Tružinski, farming about 100 hectares since 2002, pointed to major problems with product distribution and a growing lack of qualified workers.

“Teras” project manager Snježana Mitrović recalled that the first Law on Organic Production (2000) was initiated by “Teras” and said organic farming has grown overall, but recently there’s been a drop of about 1,500 hectares nationwide, with a serious decline in Vojvodina from 11,000 to 6,800 hectares under organic production.

Nenad Novaković, director of the first national organic certification body, noted that trends in Serbia mirror the EU: only slight growth in organic production and rising food prices, which make organic products less affordable for part of the population.

THEROS participated in the event through its partner OCS. The Organic Control System (OCS) took part in the 21st Biofest, where its General Manager, Mr. Nenad Novakovic, briefly presented the EU Horizon 2020 project THEROS. He mentioned that THEROS project brings together 17 partners from 6 countries (Greece, Spain, Slovenia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, and Serbia) and is coordinated by the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS) in Greece. OCS leads the work package for pilot activities in Serbia, Greece, Spain, and the Czech Republic.

THEROS aims to prevent fraud and non-compliance in organic and geographical indication (GI) products by developing an integrated package of digital tools for verification and traceability across the food supply chain. These tools include:

  • Earth Observation (Serbia, Greece): satellite imagery and machine learning to distinguish conventional vs organic plots and support inspections and decision-making.

  • MEMS Photonics System (Serbia, Greece): analysis of wheat flour purity, vitamin C content in oranges, and soil quality.

  • IoT Sensors Network (Czech Republic): monitoring transport routes and temperatures of organic shipments from producer to consumer.

  • DNA-based Authenticity Kit (Spain): verifying whether products truly originate from the claimed geographical region.

  • Blockchain-based digital product passport (dDPP): aggregating traceability data so consumers can view full product history via QR code.

At the event, the THEROS presence was also visually highlighted by a project roll-up banner.

The presentation delivered is available here.

Press conference video is available here.

PHOTO GALLERY