Interview with Christophe Janson, Sales Manager at Picvert and Consentio user since June 2023
Picvert is a family-run business based in Picardie, well known for its wide range of baby sprouts and mini-vegetables available all year round, currently operating on three fully-owned farms in France, Spain and Portugal. Christophe Janson comments: "The season in France generally runs from April to the end of October. For the rest of the year, we continue to pack products from our other production sites." In order to supply quality products 12 months a year, Picvert produces its young sprouts in winter in Malaga, Spain, as well as in Portugal. Mini-vegetables are produced year-round in southern Portugal. "The fact that we don't grow in the major production basins makes us a particularly interesting partner in the event of climatic hazards leading to shortages."
The company exports 30% of its production, mainly to north-western Europe*. In France, it supplies the French fresh-cut industry in bulk, catering wholesalers with raw 'to wash' products packaged in various formats, and several supermarket chains. The company has sales of €20 million and employs between 100 and 200 people, depending on the season.
Pour Christophe, the fresh produce sector is above all based on human contact, which in many cases remains irreplaceable. "However, when I realized the time and energy wasted by the dynamics and commercial flows of our business, I was looking for a tool that would enable us to automate our commercial transactions and modernize our structure without upsetting our values. I've known Jonathan Goumon for years, and I find him competent, enthusiastic but also genuine, so I knew he couldn't bullshit me! He advised me and convinced me to try Consentio's solutions, which in our case are the Webshop and the Magic Orders order processing tool."
On the one hand, Picvert uses the platform to present its products and generate orders. Christophe comments: "So far, we're 100% satisfied. Our visually appealing offering makes us stand out from the crowd. It is always up to date, with a price list available for every customer. The tool is very intuitive, and in-house implementation has posed no problems. Our customers, to whom we recommend its use to view and buy through our catalogue, are very enthusiastic about it. By next summer, we hope to be able to manage as many retail orders as possible using Consentio.
Picvert is also revolutionizing its order management with Magic Orders. Christophe continues: "In just a few months, the benefits are considerable. Gone are the errors and hassles caused by orders arriving in a variety of formats: PDF, Excel... Magic Orders enables us to integrate them directly into our operating system, coupled with a very useful layer of artificial intelligence. This innovation enables us not only to detect price discrepancies and missing references, but also to significantly improve the level of service offered to customers. Consentio really takes us up a notch in terms of sales efficiency and customer satisfaction."
Audrey Dantonnet and Priscilla Roussel, sales assistants, use Consentio every day with pleasure: "Consentio takes care of tedious administrative tasks and helps us avoid errors, stress and complaints. But that doesn't mean we don't talk to our customers! They place their orders on the platform whenever they like, and we call them back anyway to confirm or complete them. The time saved is invaluable: it really does improve our day-to-day lives.
The process of supporting and deploying the digital tool at Picvert went smoothly and quickly, thanks to an adapted schedule and particular attention to relationships, which Christophe appreciates. "At Pivert, we cultivate respect for the land and for our people, and at Consentio it's no different: we're talking about passionate men and women who work every day to facilitate the sector's commercial flows. Jonathan and his team know the industry inside out: their support is fast, efficient and very human. They support us and our customers who have volunteered to join the platform, and provide us with answers and arguments when we have reservations about implementing new digital tools. I'm very confident about our collaboration, future developments and the results we'll be able to achieve together."
While Picvert's primary objective is to popularize the use of Consentio among a large proportion of its customers and further standardize order management, Christophe is already looking beyond this. "We're very proud of our products, and the Consentio platform allows us to showcase them and our company. We want to use this digitalized offering as a marketing tool: we are producers and resolutely modern, ready to move our businesses into a new era. We see real value in being able to communicate with our business partners via Consentio. We'd like to use it as a customer relationship management system in the future. It's clear to me that the industry has a lot to gain, both collectively and individually, by modernizing its processes. The paper-and-pencil method has shown its limitations! Our essential, century-old professions deserve to be upgraded: digitization is certainly not a threat, but rather a godsend for bringing us up to date and, above all, preparing for the future!"
*pssst! Picvert is looking for a sales person with a strong character, mainly dedicated to export markets!
Read it or stream it fresh produce industry insights every week.
