Organisation pays tribute to Didier Crabos as it elects new chair at annual meeting in Montpellier
Pink Lady Europe has elected Bruno Bertheloz, managing director of French company Blue Whale, as its new chair.
The announcement follows the retirement of Didier Crabos, the organisation’s founder and director general of southern French cooperative Cofruid’Oc, and was made during the organisation’s 28th annual general meeting in Montpellier.
In a statement, the group said: “A huge thank you to Didier Crabos, the founder of Pink Lady Europe and its chair since the association’s inception, for three decades of commitment and his forward-thinking vision.
“During his stint as chairperson, Pink Lady became much more than an apple: a leading brand, an ambitious collective project, and a benchmark for creating value for growers, partners and consumers.”
Gerhard Dichgans, former managing director of Italian apple supplier Vog, praised Crabos’ contribution.
“Like no other, Didier has guided the development of Pink Lady Europe with foresight and passionate commitment, helping the pink apple to worldwide fame,” he said.
“PinkLady is now the most admired model of success in our industry and beyond, and Didier Crabos played a key part in that.”
Bertheloz said he looked forward to his new challenge: “Today’s utopia is tomorrow’s reality. Winning over the heart of consumers is essential to make sure that we give back to growers the value that is rightfully theirs.”
Writing on LinkedIn, Crabos praised Fruitnet managing director Christ White for the role he played in bringing the apple to his attention.
”You played a role in the history of Pink Lady,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “I discovered the existence of the Pink Lady apple in one of your articles talking about the arrival of some cartons of amazing apple in UK in 1993.”
Click here to read Chris White’s comment on Crabos’ retirement.
