Following 13 years as president of the French AOP for tomatoes and cucumbers, Pierre Diot is finally set to be replaced by Laurent Bergé, according to Végétable.
Bergé is a tomato producer for Océane Group, in the region of Nantes, and is scheduled to take over the reins on 23 November.
With coordinator Jean-Pierre Barrau, Diot oversaw major changes to the way the AOP functioned and to the relationships between the member organisations.
'Thanks to Jean-Pierre, we succeeded in establishing a climate of confidence within the AOP, which facilitated the circulation of information,' said Diot. 'This enabled us to function through a system of intelligent competition.'
Following Barrau's premature death in December 2010, Diot has been on the look-out for a successor.
Laurent Bergé is set to be joined by Lauriane Le Leslé of Comité Val de Loire, with both located in the region of Nantes.
The Diot-Barrau team were based in Rennes and Perpignan respectively, giving equal representation to the different production areas. However, according to Diot, the cohesion of the group is so good now that this consideration need not be a factor and that the practical side can be prioritised.
