Retrospect 2018

Retrospect 2018

20-12-2018

At the end of a year you sometimes look back to what has happened. We do that too, of course. In general, 2018 was a positive year. We saw that the economic progress did not pass by the agricultural industry and most of our customers were positive. We have warned you several times about all kinds of dubious practices and signals from various countries. For example, there was again attention for fraud cases from Romania and Italy, unfortunately a continuous recurring phenomenon and still can not be stopped. This year we also saw a group of old a acquaintances in Northern Spain and Portugal re-emerge, a sign that these kind of figures never stop. They even tried to find new victims at international flower fairs. There are also increasingly negative stories about dubious practices from the Balkans (Serbia & Croatia). Closer to our home we see old acquaintances popping up and we would like to point out again recent offers of cheap CC containers. We keep repeating: when an offer sounds too good to be true, that is usually the case.

This year we made an exclusive agreement with the largest Colombian flower export association, Asocolflores, and that cooperation is going very well. We share a lot of information with Colombian farms and this has a positive effect for all parties. We expect to conclude agreements with other associations in South America and Africa in the coming year. By doing this, we will be able to make our services even better for our clients and for the affiliates of the associations. In 2018 we were able to record a big increase in foreign members and a substantial increase in the number of credit reports.

After the summer, however, we also noticed an increase in debt collection files, which may be a good thing for our debt collection department, but it does mean that there is a negative trend with regard to payment terms. So be careful. Do not let your payment terms increase. For the coming months we would like to point out the coming holidays: Valentine’s Day, Women’s Day, Mother’s Day, etc. These are always busy and stressful times and for many crooks a unique opportunity to abuse them. Be careful with new, potential customers and do your homework. We are happy to assist you.

The AgroCheck team wishes you a happy Christmas and a very prosperous 2019 and we will also support you in the coming year with our experiences and advice.