Italian Giacomo Pedranzini honored with Atlas Award 2023 in Budapest

The Atlas Award has been established by ITL Group with the primary objective of recognizing accomplished business heroes who exemplify an Ethical, Sustainable, and Creative (E.S.C.) approach, and whose companies, operating within Hungary, demonstrate a steadfast commitment to fostering a more promising world.

This year, on the 7th of November, the Italian Giacomo Pedranzini was named the year’s Business Hero and received the Atlas Award 2023 prize.

In the magnificent setting of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, ITL Group hosted 150 esteemed guests from Hungary’s business community, and involved them in an immersive experience that blended elements of thought-provoking discussions and speeches about the core themes of ethics, sustainability, and creativity.

E.S.C. VALUES

Showcasing the core values of the award and the community, inspiring speakers were invited for the event to share their extended knowledge on the main themes of ethics, sustainability and creativity.

E FOR ETHICS

Michele Orzan – President of EUCham shared his insights about the business world and its ethics, safety, honesty and integrity.

S FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Dr Ervin László, philosopher, humanist, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee sent us a video, in which he emphasized the importance of sustainability and leadership and supported the Atlas World and Atlas Award.

C FOR CREATIVITY

Finally, Marco Veronese, phygital artist, philosopher, and the creator of the Atlas Award sculpture immersed the audience in his speech about creativity and innovative thinking.

OTHER SPEAKERS

Next to them, Andrea Szabó represented Bátor Tábor at the event, for which organization, a special fundraiser was created throughout the evening.

The winner of last year, Dimitri Ljasuk, also sent a special video to congratulate this year’s candidates and winner.

THE JURY

This year the jury included a group of multidisciplinary professionals with backgrounds in communication, art, ethics, sustainability, and creativity: Alessandro Farina, founder of ITL Group and creator of the award, Dimitry Ljasuk, founder of Pozitivo Digital, as well as winner of the Atlas Award 2022, Luigino Bottega, time traveler and author of the book “Io – How to win at the game of life,” Mandy Fertetics, sustainability and ESG expert and consultant as well as managing director of Alternate Consulting Hungary, Marco Veronese, artist and creator of the “Atlas Award” sculpture, Omar Balducci, Sales Director Central and Eastern Europe of Lucart Group, Tamás Botka, CEO and publisher of the Budapest Business Journal, Viktória Vita Griessmüller, president of the Rotary Club of Budapest. This year, an exceptional guest was also added to the jury members…Chat GPT, AI language processing model that provided very interesting data on the candidates nominated for the award.

TOP 5 FINALISTS

The jury was amazed by all the inspiring candidates who were nominated, and they shortlisted five entrepreneurs that stood out the most. Giacomo Pedranzini, Albert Wettstein, Mónika Méhész, Éva Pálfi and Zsolt Márkus were the top finalists.

THE SPECIAL MENTION

This year, a new addition was added to the event. Next to the winner, a special mention was given to one of the finalists, a young entrepreneur, Albert Wettstein, well-known as the co-founder of the popular food rescue platform, Munch. He and his team represents great ethical commitment, a sustainable approach and creative innovations and they created an engaging and impactful community through their work. Wettstein was surprised and happy to receive this special prize and expressed his gratitude for the recognition of their work.

AND THE WINNER IS…

By the end of the night, the suspense of who the winner will be, reached a peak. The excitement of the audience was visible when Alessandro Farina revealed the Atlas Award 2023 winner, Giacomo Pedranzini, who showcases exemplary commitment to Ethics, Sustainability and Creativity. He was already a member of the Atlas World community and he was also one of the finalists of the Atlas Award in 2022 and after his newest initiatives and developments, the jury decided that he deserved to bring home the Atlas Award this year.

Unfortunately Pedranzini could not attend the event in person, but was represented by his wife Sabrina Guidi and joined the evening through a Zoom call.

Giacomo Pedranzini is founder and CEO of Kometa 99 Zrt., who shows true commitment to Hungary and to continuous growth and development. His new initiative, HonestFood pays extra attention to ethical issues and showcases his dedication to sustainability as well. Furthermore, through his innovative thinking he is tackling prevalent industry issues and fostering collaborations among stakeholders. Pedranzini’s active involvement in community discussions and improvement, and recognition within the industry makes him a great example of a Business Hero, who is exactly what this award aims to promote.

Pedranzini started his speech by thanking the valuable jury members and congratulating the other finalists. Then, he referred to some ethical values that have been forgotten in the last few years, and he highlighted how our family roots inspire our collective commitment to these principles. He emphasized that the mission of HonestFood, their new, non-profit initiative, which currently operates only in Italy but plans to expand to Hungary, focuses on three goals: ethical food production, fair distribution of value throughout the supply chain, and environmental responsibility. He stated that, as food producers, they are aware of their profound impact on health and they are aware of the more vulnerable people in the production chain. He mentioned how the pressure on prices has disproportionately affected farmers, leading to the abandonment of agriculture in some regions. Recalling the recent floods in Tuscany, Giacomo prompted the audience to think about the consequences of climate change and natural disasters, especially in the neglect of areas left untended due to the abandonment of agriculture.

Farina concluded the evening with the following words:

“Congratulations to all and thank you to all! Please remember to spread these important values, embrace them, defend them, fight for them…. you are a fundamental part in building a better world!”

If you liked the main aspects of the award, you can join the Atlas World community, and start acting for a better world.

The Daily News Hungary was the official media partner at the ceremony of the Atlas Award: