Solving Plukon Food Group’s treasury puzzle through in-house banking

Plukon Food Group had grown into a powerhouse of the poultry industry, spread across seven countries with revenues of more than €3.3bn and a workforce of over 11,000. Known for its innovative approach to food production, Plukon faced a challenge familiar to many growing firms: cash management.

Plukon’s treasury operations were fragmented, with more than 60 bank accounts across multiple banks, and disconnected electronic banking portals spread across its network of more than 30 subsidiary companies. Each location operated independently, relying on spreadsheets to track daily balances. This lack of integration made it nearly impossible to gain a clear picture of the company’s overall financial health.

“We were poring over Excel spreadsheets to try to gain insights,” recalls Ivo Mollee, Plukon’s Corporate Treasurer. “It was time-consuming and inefficient, and we knew there had to be a better way.”

Adding to the complexity, frequent acquisitions meant onboarding new banks and banking platforms, further straining the treasury team. The need for a solution was urgent, and the team found their answer in Cobase.

The Transformation

The first step was centralising cash management. Cobase provided a single access point for all of Plukon’s bank accounts, integrating them into one intuitive dashboard. “Now, we could see all our bank account balances and initiate payments via one platform,” Mollee says. The days of juggling multiple portals were over, replaced by a seamless system that provided real-time visibility.

After gaining visibility of the firm’s cash, the next step was the implementation of Cobase’s In-House Banking Solution to solve a significant challenge. As a vertically-integrated group, Plukon’s subsidiaries regularly paid each other for goods or services.

“All the different entities within the group were paying physically, through external bank accounts, to each other,” says Mollee. “They typically did this on Friday, and then they were waiting on each other so we could make the cash record.”

This was clearly inefficient, so now Cobase labels and books transactions between Plukon’s subsidiaries, calculating intercompany interest, and eliminating the need for frequent manual payments. What once required hundreds of individual transactions each month now calls for just a handful, freeing up time and resources for more strategic work.

“The platform allows us to settle intercompany positions internally instead of relying on external bank transfers,” says Mollee. “This has drastically reduced our administrative load and bank fees.”

Flexibility in Growth

As Plukon expanded, Cobase’s scalability proved invaluable. New acquisitions were seamlessly integrated, with their bank accounts added to the platform almost instantly. The treasury team has maintained control, no matter how many new entities were added to the fold.

This flexibility is now extending beyond day-to-day operations. Cobase’s tools allow Plukon to execute foreign exchange transactions directly within the platform, bypassing the need to connect to external brokers and banking systems. Future innovations, such as setting up a payment factory, are on Mollee’s roadmap.

Plukon’s story is a testament to what’s possible when a company embraces change and partners with a solution that grows alongside it. By transforming its treasury operations with Cobase, Plukon has not only streamlined its processes but also laid the foundation for continued innovation and success.