© creative synergies, Laurent Bailly
Ensuring supply throughout the year
To guarantee a complete assortment in every season, the buying and selling team relies both on our own harvests and on a network of partner producers, mainly in the North Vaud region, but also elsewhere in Switzerland and abroad.
The team consists of Mathieu Carrel and four sales representatives who ensure sufficient volumes are maintained to meet customer demand, even when certain crops are slowing down or nearing the end of their growing season. Conversely, when harvests are abundant, as is often the case in the height of summer, sales must be organized to move goods without delay, preserving their freshness. This constant interplay between availability and needs structures the daily work of the office and demands a high degree of responsiveness.
A coordinated effort between fields, greenhouses, warehouse and office
A meeting is held every Thursday bringing together the warehouse manager, the heads of the greenhouse and open field sectors, as well as Mathieu. Together, they review the harvest forecasts and available stocks: salads, tomatoes, eggplants, courgettes, carrots and other seasonal or imported fruits or vegetables.
«This information allows us to plan the week, adjust our offerings, and determine which products we will need to partner with,» explains Mathieu. This weekly step provides direction for the entire sales team and allows them to better anticipate needs during a period of particularly high volumes and activity.
Work dictated by orders and deliveries
The days start early and end late. That's why the sales representatives take turns covering the morning and evening shifts. The office opens at 6:00 a.m. to prepare orders for the warehouse, which opens at 6:30 a.m. Deliveries are then organized according to the orders, with an average of 350 pallets leaving our logistics center each day. Between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., after the warehouse closes, the last documents are finalized.
A thorough understanding of customers to better meet their expectations
Each salesperson manages their own portfolio of clients, which allows them to maintain direct contact and personalized follow-up, giving rise over time to solid relationships.
Having arrived at our company twenty years ago, and now 39 years old, Mathieu knows the customers' purchasing habits by heart, adjusts volumes and finds solutions when market needs and availability do not coincide.
He appreciates the human aspect of the job and is passionate about the world of vegetables. In addition, he dedicates some of his free time to football as a technical director at a club. There too, as at Stoll Frères, coordination, teamwork, and flexibility are key.