Euroconsumers’ 2021 Bext Awards: Recognising excellence in consumer brands

The prizes awarded by Euroconsumers as an independent consumer organization, to the brands that have shown outstanding performances based on the results of the Euroconsumers’ quality comparative tests and surveys carries out on products.

Euroconsumers’ third edition of the awards:

The third edition of Euroconsumer’s award for best brands announced winners in 9 different categories such as quality, value for money, eco-friendly, reliability, and quality over time. BeXt Awards are based on products distributed in Euroconsumers countries: Belgium, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Due to the pandemic and the success of the 2020 online awards, we had the pleasure to make the third edition of this event online.

While last year the BeXt ceremony was part of the Euroconsumers’ International Forum, for this year’s 3rd edition, the BeXt awards was hosted at a stand-alone, fully digital event on 30th September, from 9.30 to 13.30. You can watch the award show here.

The categories of the BeXt Awards are always based on Euroconsumers’ comparative tests and collected price analysis. The categories, and the winners, were the following:

• BeXt Award for quality performance in large household appliances: Miele

• BeXt Award for quality performance in hi-tech devices: Apple

• BeXt Award for value for money in large household appliances: Electrolux

• BeXt Award for value for money in hi-tech devices: Xiaomi

• BeXt Award for eco-friendly environmental impact in large household appliances: Samsung

• BeXt Award for eco-friendly environmental impact in automotive tires: Michelin

• BeXt Award for eco-friendly environmental impact in home detergents: Ecover

• BeXt Award for reliability in large household appliances: Miele, Zanussi

• BeXt Award for quality over time in smartphones: Samsung

The awards ceremony, managed by Michele Cavuoti, Eurconsumers’ group manager of product testing, together with the presenter of the event Katrina Sichel, commenced at 12:45 A.M and closed at 13:30 P.M.

Euroconsumers’ Bext awards program :

Before the announcement of the winners, there were 3 panels of high-level consumer specialist speakers that focused on topics relating to some of our consumers’ protection policy priorities:

Repairability and Early Obsolescence – 9:30 A.M to 10:15 A.M

• Nils Behrndt – Acting Deputy Director General at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers

• Anna Cavazzini – Member of the European Parliament, Chair of the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

• Matthias Huisken – Director iFixit Europe

• Bruno Vermoesen – Head of Office Governmental Affairs for Circular Economy, BSH Group

• Els Bruggeman – Head of Advocacy and Enforcement at Euroconsumers

Performance and Environmental Impact of Detergents – 10:30 A.M to 11.15 A.M

• Cesarei Gianluca – EU Ecolabel Team at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment

• Claudia Chiozzoto – Environmental Expert AE & Clean Project

• Patrycja Gautier – Senior Legal Officer at the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC)

• Sheri Eklund – Sweriges Konsumenter & Nordqual Project

• Valerie Séjourné – Director of Communication and Stakeholders at the International Association for Soaps, Detergents, and Maintenance Products

• Luisa Crisigiovanni – Group Service Manager European Fundraising at Euroconsumers

Online Safety – 11:30 A.M to 12:30 P.M

• Eva De Bleeker – Belgian Secretary of State for the Budget and Protection of Consumers

• Brando Benifei – Member of the European Parliament

• Rafael Escudero – Secretary General of Consumption and Gaming, Ministry of Consumer Affairs

• Karen Massin – Director Government Affairs and Public Policy, European Institutions at Google

• Marco Scialdone – Head of Litigation and Academic Outreach at Euroconsumers

In 2019, the inaugural year of the awards which was a public event, we had as winners:

• Miele (Quality in Large Household Appliances), Apple (Quality in Hi-Tech), Bosch (Eco-Friendly Large Household Appliances), Miele and Siemens (Reliability in Large Household Appliances), and Samsung (Value for money in HiTech).

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the awards became an online Event. The winners included:

• Samsung (Quality in Hi-Tech), Miele (Quality in large appliances), Beko (Value for money in Large Household Appliances), and Siemens, Reckitt Benckiser, Mitsubishi, Daikin, Michelin (Eco-Friendly in Large Household Appliances)  and Samsung (Innovation)

Thank you to all those that tuned in, and congratulations to this years finalists, and winners.