“We have a strong team spirit”

‘When I was 16, I took a side job at a large supermarket,’ Romy says. ‘I stayed there during and after my studies. I worked my way up to operations manager. After thirteen years I started looking for something else. My brother-in-law works at Cefetra in trade administration. He showed me the vacancy for my current position.’ 

‘What I do is handle contracts. After a sale, we put everything in order. As soon as the products are loaded onto a boat, for example, they belong to us, and once we unload them, they belong to the customer. We make sure the whole process is as logical and as efficient as possible.’ 

‘Our team focuses on grains, such as corn, barley, wheat, and oats. I specifically deal with corn. I am responsible for trucks and trains. I also often work closely with a colleague who is responsible for boats.’ 

‘I first worked purely on administration for a few months so I could get to know our system. Then, after a while, you are free to take on more tasks. Cefetra looks at what suits you. They give you all the information you need, you can take courses if necessary. There is a lot of knowledge available in the company. I like that.’ 

‘Corn is a product with slightly different specifications than wheat, for example,’ she adds. ‘And in this role, you have to be able to talk to your customer. So in the meantime, I have gained quite a lot of knowledge. What origin does this corn have, what kind of analyses are needed, what kind of cows does it go to? All of that is important in terms of quality and safety.’ 

‘These past few years, I got tremendously involved,’ Romy says. ‘How I noticed that? For example, when we go on a vacation and I say to my partner: look, that’s where that customer is located, or, that’s one of our transporters driving by. You have a lot of contact with customers, suppliers, and transporters. Often by phone, but we also visit them or have dinner with them. I like that social aspect, building a good relationship.’ 

‘I enjoy working at Cefetra very much. We’re part of an interesting industry and the team is great. The people here make all the difference. We complement each other well and can also support each other. If you are not so busy yourself, you can assist someone else. We work hard and we also make plenty of jokes.’ 

 ‘We have a strong team spirit at the grain desk. We make new colleagues feel welcome very quickly. If you can plan well, prioritize, work in a structured way, we will do great work together.’