Grégoire Berthe is CEO of Céréales Vallée, a “Competitiveness Cluster” bringing together more than 500 actors from the French cereal sector involved in research, industry, services and training. Based in the Auvergne region of France, the aim of the cluster is to develop innovations to optimize cereal cultivation for both food and non-food applications.

Since the inception of the IWGSC in 2005, Berthe has tirelessly supported the efforts of the Consortium by helping disseminate information about the projects in the wheat community. As a result of his support, IWGSC Executive Director Kellye Eversole has been regularly invited to numerous conferences and asked to present the IWGSC work before the International Seed Federation (ISF) and the European Seed Association (ESA) for example, resulting in increased support of the broader breeding community.

For the past few years, Berthe has given presentations on behalf of the IWGSC at the ISF meetings. Grégoire Berthe has also been instrumental in fostering support for funding IWGSC projects in France through the labeling of projects by Céréales Vallée as well as lobbying to governmental funding agencies.

At the ceremony, Kellye Eversole said: “many of the significant achievements the consortium has had over the past ten years would not have been possible without visionary individuals like Grégoire Berthe. I feel very fortunate to have had a chance to work with Grégoire as he is the epitome of dedication and devotion to ensuring a prosperous future for wheat farmers.”

Prior to leading Céréales Vallée, Grégoire Berthe held various positions in Limagrain Cooperative Group, among which Director of Research & Development World for field seeds and Chief Executive Officer of seed subsidiaries in Europe and North America. He subsequently headed Limagrain scientific and regulatory affairs at the Group level. Gregoire is currently involved in various French, European and World seed trade associations, as board member or expert.