HOMEOn 7 November 2023, following its General Assembly, the Board of Directors of the Union Française des Semenciers (UFS, French seed association) voted Olivier Paul as the new President, following Didier Nury’s departure.
Originally from Troyes in northeast France, Olivier Paul is a graduate of ICN Business School, specialised in finance. He began his career at Deloitte and went on to occupy various financial roles before ensuring the general management of industrial companies in France and abroad in the fields of household appliances, food supplements and house paints.
In 2015 he joined the Euralis cooperative group where he occupied various roles in food activities, seeds and support services.
In 2021, Olivier Paul joined Lidea, the multispecies seed supplier, as Managing Director: “I fully discovered the seed sector in 2019 when I worked with Philippe Saux on managing Euralis Semences during the merger of the latter with Caussade Semences. For me this was the chance to discover unique know-how and expertise, with cutting-edge research and production quality we can be proud of. I will be fully involved with the board members and the UFS team to contribute to the recognition of this strategic sector by all industry operators. To do so, we will continue to make practical proposals, particularly in the run-up to the European elections next spring. The agenda will be packed but exciting as always”.
To support him, the UFS’s new executive council was elected with Rémi Bastien (Limagrain) as Vice-President, Xavier Thevenot (Syngenta France) as General Secretary and Patrick Mariotte (KWS France) as Treasurer.