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Direct Source International in the South Holland town of Strijen in the Hoeksche Waard region was started as a young company in 2011. With unique knowledge of the market, a fresh perspective on external factors and a straightforward mentality is this importer of fresh fruit grown into a major player in the AGF market in a short time. Managing director Hilbert Klop became involved with DSI nine years ago, For everything to do with credit insurance, he has worked with Erik Bolsius and his colleagues at Xolv since the very beginning.

Smart outsourcing
DSI serves a select group of high-end customers and retailers such as Jumbo, Plus, Superunie and Carrefour. Hilbert: "They demand consistency when it comes to quality and deliveries. That's why we limit ourselves to our core business, importing fresh fruit. We want to be the reliable link between supplier and buyers. That is what we want to excel in, so we deliberately outsource the rest. Think of logistics and transport, IT, website management and so on. We also leave the credit insurance to people who specialise in it," Hilbert says.

Xolv sits next to you
Negotiating complex, often multi-year contracts with credit insurers ourselves is not a realistic option, according to Hilbert. "We lack the time and knowledge for that. And there are now parties who do nothing else. Moreover, the nice thing about Xolv is that they do not sit opposite you, but next to you. They think along with you. And ahead of you. They don't want to sell you anything but help you move forward. For example, they negotiate to adjust conditions in a policy, something we would never think of doing ourselves but which you only notice once a contract is up and running."

Added value
Hilbert likes to explain the latter with a practical example. "A factoring company tries to limit its risks by including a concentration factor. This means that a customer's share, for example, should be a maximum of 20% of the total receivables portfolio. Xolv pays attention to things like this and changes that to 30% per cent, which helps us immensely in the availability of the facility at the factor if we have a customer that is just slightly above that 20%. See, now that's added value."

'Xolv speaks the language of the credit insurer'

Operational matters
DSI handles the more day-to-day operational matters itself with the credit insurer, in this case Atradius. "By the way, I think that is also the strength of Xolv, that we don't have to bother them with every little thing. They help us with the important contracts but encourage us to coordinate operational matters with Atradius ourselves. This only enhances mutual understanding between us and the insurer. And if we don't come out of it for once, Xolv's added value reappears. They speak the credit insurer's language and find the figures and arguments why, for example, a limit can be increased after all."

Also refinancings
Finally, Hilbert notes that Xolv is also DSI's backer and supporter in another area. "Once in a while there is a major refinancing with the banks. Even then, Xolv is ready to help and advise where necessary. Very valuable," Hilbert says, after which he takes a handful of a bunch of grapes imported by DSI.