Jean Montrieul, secretary of the federation of cider fruit harvesters and vintage distillers of the West, takes stock of the news of his federation, ahead of their general assembly, Saturday November 30, 2024, in Marigny-le- Lozon (Manche).
Can you tell us about the raw distillers?
After a few years of slack, with a drop in the number of members or even Covid, we found good momentum in 2024. In fact, the federation which had 10,000 members in the 1980s had seen its number of members drop to 4,000 registered and only 2,000 collectors since the resignation in 2020 due to health reasons of its president Louis Prével. For some time there was doubt about the survival of the federation.
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In 2022, things improved with the election of a new office chaired by Jean-Pierre Mauquest, mayor of Montebourg. We have succeeded in recreating a dynamic in the former Lower Normandy by increasing the number of information meetings. The last one, in Carteret, was very positive and also the home visits and the recruitment of new cantonal officials as well as new collectors. In the Channel, there are 80 today, but a good hundred would be the ideal number. We are always recruiting new members and we see that young distillers, not always from the agricultural world, are joining us. We can say that our federation, which has its head office here, is progressing and always ready to intervene with its members on a legal and also financial level.
What major topic will you discuss on Saturday?
Apart from the presentation of the results, all positive, we will present in detail the new regulations of the federation. It is necessary that it be explained very precisely to members, distillers or not, so that the tradition and know-how can be passed on to new generations.
When and where will the meeting take place?
Saturday November 30, at 10:30 a.m., in the council room at Marigny-le-Lozon town hall. We encourage participants to come in large numbers, especially since the current set-up of the teams suggests that the year 2025 will be even better than the previous one.
Information, such. at 06 85 46 73 87.
