C2FO Gives Perfetti Van Melle the Most Valuable Asset in the World: Time

Discover how the team behind Mentos, Chupa Chups and other great-tasting treats supports its network of global suppliers.

The challenge

Perfetti Van Melle (PVM) is a giant of the confectionery industry, with key suppliers around the world.

To improve these important relationships, PVM decided to help its suppliers — many of which struggled to obtain bank loans — improve their access to working capital. 

PVM had the sufficient means to do so, with cash reserves that were losing value due to negative interest rates. But the team needed a comprehensive early payment system with global coverage that would allow them to cater to hundreds of separate entities in multiple marketplaces.

“We have so many different businesses and suppliers around the world, each with their own procurement systems,” said Martijn van Graaf, PVM’s group treasurer. “We were really keen to find a product that allowed us to help our suppliers with cash flow, but also did so in a way that was quick and easy to use.”

PVM chose C2FO to help the company meet the following goals:

• Give suppliers easy access to low-cost capital and cash

• Improve relationships between businesses and suppliers

• Manage complex procure-to-pay processes for businesses in 150 different countries

• Make and market innovative new products in a collaborative and resourceful way

• Continue to play an important social and environmental role in communities

The solution

C2FO provided PVM with the perfect resource: an early payment programme that seamlessly arranges for the advance payment of supplier invoices in exchange for a small discount at a rate proposed by the supplier and accepted by the buyer. It also covers diverse regions such as Europe, China, India and Turkey.

The interface is simple to navigate, quick to implement and comes complete with expert advice from C2FO’s Supplier Relationship Management team, who interact directly with suppliers to ensure that everything runs smoothly. As a result, C2FO’s solution also gave PVM one of the most valuable assets on the planet – time – leaving PVM’s procurement team free to focus on other priorities.

The results

Since PVM started using C2FO’s Early Payment Programme in 2017, it has awarded more than €195 million in early payments to 400 suppliers around the world — 35 days ahead of schedule, on average. This has allowed PVM to achieve a number of its core missions, including strengthening its relationships with suppliers in key markets.