Van Melle uses Graydon to restructure credit acceptation process

Van Melle has restructured its credit acceptation process, which makes use of Graydon's worldwide business credit reports. The restructuring is applied both to new and existing customers, says Jan Maarten Michels, Finance Manager of Van Melle.

"A risk analysis determines if we deliver on credit or on secured terms. Both the sales department and the back office are trained in the new procedure. New credit limits have been implemented. As a result, with some customers we are negotiating new terms of payment, backed up by the conclusions from the Graydon reports. These are also used for determining a shortlist of potential customers."

60 countries
Van Melle is a company that produces candies such as Mentos and Fruitella. Michels: "We need insight on the risk per customer and per country. Van Melle's export organization is responsible for sales in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. In each country, we work with one or more importers/distributors. We are active in about 60 countries and have around 125 customers."

Insurance not an option
In many countries we operate in, insurance against credit risk is not an option because of the strict requirements that are asked. That is why we search for alternatives to estimate the collectibility risks. 

Fresh investigations
Michels: "Graydon reports are an integral part of our selection process for new customers. Besides, with fixed intervals, we will ask fresh investigations to evaluate if our fixed limits are still valid. The number of times we do that depends on the current rating and the trends in payment behaviour and risk per country."